Logging Out
by Valishnor
Summary: For the gamer Gabriel, it seems like a normal MMO launch. For the social outcast Satanichia, it's an opportunity. What will happen when these are brought together by a new video game? Only time will tell. Gabriel/Satania. Social Anxiety up the wahzoo.
1. Friend Request

Footsteps compacted the snow as delicate bare feet jogged lightly through the wintry forest. There might have been a pitter patter, had the snow not muffled most noise in the small forest clearing. The only sound other than the crunch of the snow was the rustling of the cloth gown on her body. She panted lightly in exertion – physical fitness was not her forte – as she was tailed by the enemies behind her.

The demonic fiends were chasing her, and to a casual observer one may believe that she was in danger. After all, she was a seemingly unarmed angel wearing nothing but a simple sleeveless, yet modest white gown that ran the length of her body to the knees. She wore no kind of shoes or boots, nor did she wear a hat. She wielded no weapon, but she didn't need one. After all, she was protected by the unyielding light of God.

Whispering a brief prayer over the course of three seconds, she turned and directed God's wrath towards the lesser demons that followed her. She stopped running as the beasts were engulfed in a holy flame and burned to a crisp. Smoldering corpses were all that remained of the imps that were chasing the angelic girl.

She had been killing these demons for well over half an hour. Her halo was engulfed in the very holy fire that she had been weaponizing only moments ago and her eyes were glowing with a golden hue that matched her perfectly straight, golden-blonde hair. Her feathery wings flared out as the blessings of God projected physically upon her body and spirit. A resolute smile was focused on the dead abominable creatures and her bright blue eyes seemed to sparkle.

Truth be told, she could smite these horrible bastards all day, but she had a specific goal in mind. The one in charge of the demons that were assaulting these once-tranquil woods was at large, and what kind of angel would she be if she let such a bastard roam free? She would see the cruel demon's head on a pike if it was the last thing she did. Luckily, she was nearing the edge of the forest, so she had to be getting close to the enemy.

The snowy grounds slowly transitioned to a scorched battlefield. It was still cold, sure, and the snow was still falling, but the ground itself seemed to be corrupted to the point that any snow that touched it melted into demonic flames and the grass that once likely covered this beautiful clearing in the summertime was also incapable of growing. Truly, the very world itself was being corrupted and only an angel's touch could purify it. However, before that, the angel had a more important task.

"Your blood will be desecrated by the beautiful unholy flame!" the demon lieutenant called out as she charged the angel from behind. Her scaled skin was a charred grey hue and her blood-red eyes were literally aflame with hellish black fires. She was wearing a skin-tight leather doublet that revealed a not-so-modest amount of cleavage and every curve that her voluptuous body was blessed with. Her long, black hair reached her ankles and she had a long, thin scar horizontally across her face. She wielded an unholy spear that had the look of a metal staff with two black blades – one on either end. The blade exuded an unholy aura and it was chipped and charred from countless battles. Blood caked the handle of the staff, creating a grip that shouldn't have worked as well as it did.

The blow from the tainted demonic spear was barely dodged as the angel ducked and rolled to the left. No words were given by the angel as she steadied into a combat stance and said a quick prayer for a blessing of protection. Her halo's shine intensified, and her radiance grew exponentially. The demon lieutenant, however, wasted no time as she charged in with a wide swipe of her weapon. The angel dropped to her back and slid under the legs of the demon as she avoided this blow as well.

Miraculously, she was surviving thus far, but she knew her luck would run out. She was a priestess, she wasn't meant to be fighting in close combat. She had been able to simple call upon the power of God to obliterate the lesser demons from a distance, but this being was far more powerful than the imps and other smaller demons that she had managed to fight before. At most, her power to smite the demonic hordes would be able to cause physical pain to this opponent, sure, but it wouldn't outright kill her so easily, and she couldn't afford to lower her guard like that against this foul _thing._ She hadn't known what to expect, but she mentally cursed herself for not being better prepared or recruiting some allies.

She conjured forth her wings once again and used her angelic power to uplift herself to her feet and twist to face the lieutenant. Her right hand followed her body in the twist in a slicing motion and a blade shaped burst of holy energy was released and slashed at the monster, but the fiend blocked it with a swirl of her accursed blade. The angel panted as the beast approached slowly, with her blade held at the ready.

She wasn't entirely sure how she would stand up to the beast, and she was quickly approaching her limit. Just as she was beginning to consider running away, however, she saw a new form of hope manifest before her. Another demon, this time appearing more human-like, charged into the battlefield with a sword of obsidian and blackened steel shield. The demon's long, wavy red hair was halfway down her back and her red demonic eyes were in a cruel gaze upon this evil lieutenant. Her large breasts seemed to struggle against the armor that was holding them back and her curvy body left little to the imagination, despite the lack of skin shown by her armor - a simple set of black plate-mail greaves with a matching breastplate and gauntlets. The armor was unsullied, so it would seem that she wasn't very experienced in the art of war, but her skill told another story.

She was obviously quite adept at slaying demons, apparent from the way her blade riposted through the spear and managed a few glancing blows upon the foul temptress. On the occasion that her shield failed and she herself succumbed to the opponent's spear, the angel managed to call upon the grace of God and heal the newcomer's wounds.

All in all, the two were making quite a good team, considering their polar opposite allegiances. Contrary to common expectations, this red-headed demon was in fact an ally of the angel in this case. While the two had never met prior to this, the demon girl was actually a part of a faction of demons that had reluctantly united with the angels for the purpose of stopping their former masters and their destructive plans that extended even to Hell itself.

The blades sang a song of promised victory and defeat, and the two warriors seemed to be in a dance of imminent death. One would fall, that much was certain, and each demon was determined to bring that death upon her opponent. Both blades bit into skin time and time again, but one of the demons had an advantage: an angel healing her wounds. It took time, but the outcome was truly predictable since the redheaded demon joined the fray. With a final slash of her serrated blade, she bisected the opponent diagonally with all the strength she could muster. Blood and bone coated her blade and splashed to the ground. As soon as the monster fell, the angel cast a holy spell of purification upon the ground, both purifying the ground they walked upon and incinerating the unholy corpse before her.

The angel and demon shared a look and the demon offered a nod with a thumbs-up and wink, and the angel returned with a radiant smile of her own. Suddenly the two were assaulted by a bright light.

 **Prologue Complete!**

 **Level up!**

 **Gained one skill point!**

 **New Friend Request: Archdemon003**

Gabriel yawned into her hand and took a long swig of the half-empty two-liter soda on the floor next to her laptop. She rolled to her back and scratched her belly before squinting at the screen.

She was currently playing a brand new MMORPG on launch day, and, like always, she had decided on a priest character. She played as a healer in all of her favorite MMO's, and this one was no exception. Her race was Angel, her class was Priestess. It was easily her favorite archetype and she loved the feeling of healing her allies and receiving all their adoration and praise. Something that she never grew to enjoy, however, was the leveling experience that comes with a brand new priest character. It was no secret that priests were squishy and dealt little to no damage.

During her unfortunately slow initial leveling process, however, Gab had lucked out, encountering a character that was on the same quest as her. Even more luckily, the character's race was Demon – so her evasion and endurance skills were higher than normal – and her class was Warrior – so she could use heavier equipment and was literally designed to fight in melee combat. The Demon Warrior had charged in enthusiastically and Gab had healed her through the fight.

The two had overcome the mini-boss and the quest had been completed. The end of the quest had triggered a portal that transported the two to their respective capital cities (The Sanctum of Insight in Heaven for Angels and the Obsidian Temple within the darkest pits of Hell for Demon characters) and they finally gained access to the auction house, class trainers, and job trainers. They also unlocked many social features such as friend lists and a group matchmaking tool for finding allies.

As soon as Gabriel had spawned into the city, she had received a friend request from the demon girl and she was definitely considering accepting it. It would surely help to have an ally that could tank for her in the speed leveling process, and the two may even form a guild. She usually formed her own guilds in MMO's, and this one would be no exception. The experience point boost would be welcome for sure. Opening the Social Menu in the game, Gabriel quickly clicked "Accept" and began typing a message to this other player.

((FallenAngel001: hey how r u))

((Archdemon003: Mwahahaha! I knew you would accept my friend request. Angels flock from across the Heavens and Earth to bask in the presence of I, the true Queen of Hell!))

"Oh. She's one of _those_ players," Gab mumbled with a slightly amused chuckle.

((FallenAngel001: loser do you want to form a guild? ^.^))

((Archdemon003: . A guild? Why, of course! You should consider yourself lucky! For the honor of creating a guild alongside I, Satanichia, the greatest Archdemon of all realms!))

((FallenAngel001: im blocking you… -.-))\

((Archdemon003: WAIT! Please reconsider! I would love to make a guild!))

Gabriel was typing her response to the quirky role-player when the front door to her dorm was rudely opened and a hallway full of light furiously assaulted her eyes and she squinted as she tried to adjust to the brightness.

"Gah! What the hell!?" Gab shouted at the light in the distance. She couldn't _see_ what was going on, but she had a good idea. Vignette April Tsukinose. That was the only answer. Vignette was Gabriel's absolute best friend. Neither girl really knew how they had become best friends, but it had had something to do with both of them being new to the city on the same day. Gab had been untouched by MMO's (pure, as Vignette had said) and she had kindly helped the Japanese girl to find her dorm room in this new campus. Gabriel, after all, was at least lucky enough to come from the European town, even if she was new to the boarding school itself.

Both girls had been excited to discover that they were in the same class at school. Things had escalated from there and their emotional bond had deepened. Now, a couple years later, they were the best of friends. Yet, while Gabriel did love her friend deeply, she had to stick to her theory that the girl was actually part-demon herself. Not that Gabriel necessarily believed in that stuff, but it was the only explanation for the cruelty that this girl showed on a regular basis. Forcing Gabriel to do her own homework? Making Gabriel _clean_? Coming into Gabriel's home right before bedtime with that bright light? All acts of cruelty. She was certainly the actual Queen of Hell that her new friend claimed the mantle of.

"Vigne, it's time for bed. Go home," Gabriel said in a monotone. Vignette sidestepped some of the trash on the floor of the younger girl's dorm and sat down next to the girl and her laptop.

"Gab, it's seven thirty in the morning. We have school," Vignette said in a frustrated tone. She should have been used to Gabriel's irresponsibility, but every time she thought she was growing accustomed to the ball of laziness, something like this happened. Vignette had seen her friend have all-nighters before, but this one was a new level.

"Can't be helped," Gabriel said as she sent a quick "gtg ttyl" message to her new friend, logging off and turning off her laptop. She crawled into her bed and yawned into her hand. Pulling her blanked above her mouth, she sighed in contentment and began to doze off. Vignette, however, wasn't having any of it. The unholy student pulled the blanket from Gabriel, ignoring all protests and threats. After all, when push came to shove, Vignette could be more threatening than Gabriel could even compete with.

After miraculously getting the slothful girl to roll out of bed and get dressed, Vignette prayed for some form of higher power to give her the strength to get through the day.

((FallenAngel001: gtg ttyl))

Satanichia McDowell stared with a blank expression at her character that was idling in the middle of the Obsidian Temple. The message had already faded in the flood of other players spamming the chat box with lewd jokes and early attempts to kick start the server economy, but the messages from FallenAngel001 were still running through her head. Truth be told, she had expected the other girl to refuse her friend request, as most others did.

She was, honestly, quite socially awkward. To say she could count her total number of friends on one hand was overstating it, since she literally had no friends. Having spent most of her life homeschooled alongside her little brother by her uneducated parents, she was quite socially inept. Her only meaningful social interactions had been in the various RPGs that she played in her free time. From Fantasy to Sci-Fi genres, Satanichia found herself quite proficient at the games and in her isolation, she became increasingly immersed in the stories.

Now, here she was, having bought her first MMORPG. She had longed for actual friends, and this was a golden opportunity to meet them. Unfortunately, however, the fake farce of overconfidence that she employed around her parents had been her go-to personality in game. She simply didn't know how else to best behave around others. Additionally, her love for single-player RPGs up until this point had caused her to inadvertently speak "in character" to other players. She had therefore been basically shunned by the common playerbase as early as the launch night of the MMO. She had played all night in an attempt to meet _someone_ to adventure with across Heaven and Hell, but it had all been for naught.

Late into the night she decided she would simply give up. 'If I make it to the end of the prologue with no new friends, I'll just go back to my old games,' she reasoned. She had grown more disheartened as the quests ticked by. She slaughtered demon after demon and every quest reward killed her hopes little by little. Then: a miracle had happened. Satanichia came upon an angel character struggling against a mini-boss.

For whatever reason this other player had put literally all of her skill points in healing and buffs and had not leveled her combat skills in the slightest. Satanichia immediately charged to the Angel's aid. She was, after all, playing a tank build. Her and this player were completely compatible. The fight had went smoothly (albeit slowly) and the mini-boss had died. The end-prologue cinematic had heralded the full capability of this MMORPG and the realms of Hell were hers to explore, but she had other priorities.

In a panicked rush, Satanichia had found the other player's username and sent a friend request. After that, she had simply stared at the screen with her friend list open. Crossing her fingers and hoping against hope, Satanichia nearly jumped in joy at the _ping!_ that accompanied the new (and first) addition to her friend list.

 **New Friend: FallenAngel001**

The words they shared were a short, brief exchange, but it was the most non-familial social interaction that Satanichia had ever had and she couldn't be more excited. Nothing in the world could possibly bring the girl down from this high.

"Annabel, it's time for school."

Scratch that. Perhaps there _was_ something that could bring her down. Her father, Dougal McDowell was calling from below. The man was as egotistical as he was unintelligent, but Satanichia had learned at a young age that the best way to avoid his wrath was to simply play along. So, whenever he called her Annabel, she simple smiled and carried on. Whenever he bragged about his upcoming promotion, she congratulated him and bragged about her own (made-up) achievements in school. That was something her father valued: bragging and pride in the McDowell family name. She quickly grabbed her blazer and backpack from her bed and made her way downstairs.

"Good morning, Father!" she excitedly greeted the middle-aged man. He smiled at her enthusiasm and nodded.

"Good morning, Annabel," he said, not noticing her brief wince, "Are you ready for school?"

"I am. It's time to demonstrate the superiority in intellect of the McDowell family!" she cackled maniacally. She hated this act, but it was better than actually verbalizing her insecurities and fears to her father. That certainly hadn't worked out the one time she had been foolish enough to try it. He accepted her act hook, line, and sinker.

"Mwahaha! That's my girl!" he said as he patted her lightly on the head, "Come, the class president can't be late!"

Satanichia simply let him have his moment and hoped she could find the resilience to get through another day in the hell that was secondary school.


	2. Party Time

The demon called forth into the depths of hell. Where her voice reached, it was received by all of her unholy minions. Hands of bone and sinew grasped from the ground as servants strove to please their powerful mistress. The hands grabbed at her enemies, slowing their advance to a crawl. Satanichia, unholy lord of the fiery pits of hell cackled as the enemy demons struggled in vain to reach her. On the off chance that one came remotely close, her blade decapitated the fool and all his hubris in one swoop.

Beside Satanichia stood the archangel Gabriellia, wielding holy magics of the highest angelic order. Those who luckily dodged the skeletal hands of Satanichia's constructs were engulfed in the blessed fire of God. Truly, all enemies within this land would do well to cower before these two forces of conflicting morality.

((Party: FallenAngel001: nice combo i leveled up))

((Party: Archdemon003: All who fight in the shadow of the true Queen of Hell shall share in her power!))

 **FallenAngel001 has left the party**

((Archdemon003: WAIT! I'll stop, I promise!))

 **FallenAngel001 has invited you to a party**

Sighing in relief, Satanichia quickly clicked 'Accept' and the two continued slaughtering demons. Immediately after school, both girls had immediately logged on, each with different ulterior motives. Satanichia, for her part, just wanted to spend time with her new friend. She would gladly accept the role of tank and the high repair bills that came with it. The two had been questing together for the better part of a week now, and were quickly becoming close.

((Party: FallenAngel001: say, ur pretty good at this))

Satanichia was unsure how to take an earnest compliment for a feat that she hadn't made up to appease her father. She wasn't used to such praise.

((Party: Archdemon003: Uhm, thanks. I'm pretty new at this but I play a lot of single-player RPGs. You're a great healer!))

She quickly complimented her friend back. She wasn't used to having a healer in her party that she didn't have to switch control to. Watching her health bar stay above 90% was oddly satisfying. As the two noticed their inventory filling, they began running to the nearest town to sell their junk items and repair their equipment. Luckily there was a neutral town nearby.

((Party: FallenAngel001: im always a healer, easier to find groups. when we hit lvl 10 lets make a guild))

Satanichia smiled widely. Not only was a friend willingly talking to her, she wanted to form a _guild_ together. This was beyond what she had expected.

She was still typing a response when FallenAngel001 sent another message.

((Party: FallenAngel001: hey i gtg cya tonite?))

Satanichia was disappointed to see her friend logging off so soon, but she could at least look forward to later on. Besides, her family was about to have dinner anyway. She spammed backspace and typed out a new message.

((Party: Archdemon003: Definitely! I'll see you-))

...but before she could finish typing her friend had logged off. Smiling in anticipation she mentally braced herself for family dinner. She was another day closer to college _and_ she now had a friend. These thoughts accompanied her as she made her way downstairs, two stairs at a time and humming a quiet tune under her breath. She skipped around the corner into the rather small kitchen and sat down at the table.

"You're in a good mood tonight," her mother, Amélie, said happily as she placed a bowl of porridge in front of her, "What's the occasion?"

Satanichia looked around the room and stood to peak around the corner to the living room.

Her mother seemed to be reading her mind when she said, "Your father is picking up your brother from Rugby practice."

The young girl smiled wide and let her guard down as she told her mother about her new friend in her game. She told her about their meeting and their plans to form a guild together. Despite her mother's confusion about angels and demons and what exactly a guild was, the woman was very supportive and smiled happily at her daughter. After all, Satanichia wasn't the only one who put on an act for the sake of keeping the peace in the house. The only one in the house that didn't put on such a pretense was her little brother, but their father saw his rebellious attitude as the "foolishness of youth."

Satanichia only stopped telling her mother about the adventures with her first friend when the door opened and her father, Dougal, and brother, Ethan, walked in. To change personality to suddenly was like plunging oneself into a lake of icy water, but the girl had mastered the skill over the years.

"...and so I'm thinking of getting on as the new leader for the Science club at school, but I don't know if it's worth my time," she said loudly, careful to ensure that her father would hear her loud boasting. Part of her wanted to vomit in her mouth at the fake face she had to put on, but that part of her had long been dead. Likewise, her mother smiled sadly at her and put out the porridge for Dougal and Ethan.

"That's our girl," Dougal said boisterously as Amélie sat down. He clapped his daughter on the back and pumped his fist, continuing, "You've only been in public schools for a year and you're already running the place. I couldn't be prouder."

Satanichia just gave her falsely egotistical smile and let loose her signature cackle. Looking forward to leaving the table and returning to her video game, she pounded the table obnoxiously and proclaimed, "The Queen of the school requires her sustenance!" Her father just laughed loudly and nodded his head in agreement.

"Agreed! Let's say grace!" he thundered out.

Dougal rubbed his hands together excitedly as he looked at the food and grabbed his wife and daughter by the hand before they bowed their heads in prayer. After a few seconds, he interrupted the silence with an "amen" and the family began to eat. The good thing about Dougal's personality was that Satanichia could generally get by silently by just tuning him out and eating until she could excuse herself to her room to return to her video games. Unfortunately, that led to a bit of a lonely life, and her brother and father didn't even really know who she was beyond her façade, but it was a sacrifice she was willing to make. After basically inhaling her bowl of porridge and thanking her mom for the food she pushed down her excitement before she asked her father for permission to be excused.

"What? Why? You'll miss the rest of my story," he said with a raised brow, "Are you feeling ill, Annabel? You normally love my stories from work."

Truthfully, she hadn't even been paying attention to his story at all. This was the nightly dinner routine. Normally, she was pretty good at estimating the length of his stories, but tonight she was a little off. It was probably because of her eagerness to leave. She laughed nervously as she quickly tried to formulate an excuse.

"I'm sorry father. I have homework, and the class president must stay ahead in her duties to keep the underlings in line," she lied smoothly. Dougal eyed her critically for a moment before nodding and smirking.

"Of course she must. I expect nothing short of perfection," he instructed with a gesture as she rose and walked upstairs. She wasn't super worried about his expectations. After all, he never _actually_ verified her grades or seemed to genuinely ask about her education.

She hopped into her room, trying to summon the pip in her step from earlier. It usually took quite some time after her parting from her father before she could regain her previous vigor and joy. She sat down at her makeshift computer desk - it was actually an old patio table that she had found on discount at a local store. Her face lit up at the MMORPG's logo on her monitor. She typed in her credentials and entered the realms of Hell on her character. She opened her friend's list and, seeing that FallenAngel001 was offline, began farming for herbs to make some potions for when the other girl logged on. It was a tedious task, but it had to be done. The farming went by in a flash in her anticipation for the adventure she was bound to have. Before she knew it, two hours had passed and she finally got the news she was waiting for.

 **FallenAngel001 is online!**

"Why do I have to be here?" Gabriel asked in boredom.

"Because our teacher thought we would be effective partners for this project," Vignette answered with a sad, resigned look. Truthfully, the teacher knew that Vignette was the only student that could get any work out of the lazy student. What he didn't know is that Gabriel only actually did any work about thirty percent of the time. Most of the time she just copied Vignette's own homework.

"His mistake," she retorted as she removed a carton of grape juice and a straw from her pocket and poked the straw through the hole. She sipped the juice loudly and Vignette winced at the loud noise and stares from the other students. Gabriel simply ignored them as she supported her face on her empty left palm and continued the juicy kerfuffle.

"No, it is not his mistake!" Vignette argued, jerking the juice from the shorter girl's hands and placing it on the opposite side of her on the table. She kept blocking the blonde as she reached around her for the beverage. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Come on, Gab. We have to finish this assignment tonight or we'll fail.

"I thought you would have it finished already," Gabriel admitted. _Without a shred of regret,_ Vignette noted sadly.

"Just… go find these books for me," she said with a low voice that practically screamed self-restraint and frustration as she handed Gabriel a list of books that she had looked up and assumed would be useful on the project. The girl slowly wandered off towards the bookshelves.

It was a simple project. Each group in the class consisted of two people. Each team was assigned a random topic that was covered during the previous weeks and had to create a small presentation for the teacher. Vignette and Gabriel were lucky enough to get an easy topic: The Periodic Table of Elements. Vignette had planned the entire project: a destructible block-like model of the Periodic Table of Elements with all of the important information for each element on its designated block. Each block would also be openable from the back with a small slip of paper with a random piece of trivia for that specific element.

So far, they had finished the first three periods of the table. Well, to be accurate, Vignette had finished the first three periods of the Periodic Table. Gabriel had just played some mobile game on her phone and sipped juice until the older girl had taken her phone away. At this point it was six o'clock in the evening and the girls would be lucky to finish up before midnight.

While Gabriel fetched the research materials for the trivia information on the elements, Vignette continued her work with potassium. Making the blocks out of construction paper was actually pretty simple. All she had to do was fold the paper into boxes and tape them with clear tape in a way that would allow the paper to open from the back and would simultaneously hide the tape. She had just finished up the fourth period when Gabriel got back with the books she needed. Honestly, she was quite surprised and happy that the lazy-good-for-nothing had even managed to get the right books to begin with.

About two and a half hours later the two were finally finished constructing the actual model and labeling the elements, but they still had their work cut out for them. Both girls were nose deep in various books about the history and applications of chemistry and Vignette had no shortage of regrets for her ambitious ideas for the project. The information was easily available, but it was still time-consuming.

"This is boring. Can we just skip school tomorrow and work on it then?" Gabriel asked with no small amount of hope in her voice.

"If you had worked on it with me earlier this week, we could have finished it by now," Vignette said absently as she continued her research in Alkaline-Earth metals. She didn't notice the girl's pout, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. The deadline was approaching, and she didn't have time for the nonsense.

"It's hardly my fault that I've had plans this week," Gabriel said as she faceplanted into the book on the table in front of her, "This stupid project had bad timing."

 _She's saying this with a serious face._

"What's with your priorities? Couldn't you at least _try_ to put in some effort at school?" she asked with a huff of annoyance. Gabriel shrugged her shoulders in response.

"I put in all the effort I can," she said.

 _You literally put in no effort._

"After all," she continued, "my services at the church take up a lot of time."

This surprised Vignette. She had no idea that Gabriel actually did something that helped people. She actually had to look up from her book to see the serious expression on her friend's face to know it wasn't some kind of joke.

"You volunteer at a church?" she asked in genuine curiosity and a fair amount of pride in her friend. _This is fantastic! She's actually taking on a responsibility!_ Vignette's smile was a force that could only be stopped by a miracle.

"Of course," Gab said with a serious expression, "I've helped many people, including a girl influenced by demons."

Vignette was beginning to feel a little suspicious at that, but she supposed that one under the influence of the Satanic Bible may seek some sort of guidance or help at a church. After all, her family traditionally followed the teaching of the Satanic Bible. She closed her book with a bookmark and asked, "You _actually_ help people at an actual church?"

Gabriel nodded and proudly explained, "Yes. In fact, just last night I assisted in the care of a dozen refugees."

Vignette felt tears forming in her eyes from the pride she felt and rose from her chair to hug the shorter girl.

"I'm so proud of you! Here I thought you were a useless shut-in who only plays video games and sleeps!" Vignette whisper-shouted to her friend while hugging her tight. Gab just scribbled down a fact about Cobalt for the project while ignoring the hug.

"Eh?" she asked in a nonchalant tone.

"You're actually doing something productive," she said warmly as she pulled back with the hug, "you can go on home. I can finish it from here. Since you're actually doing something in service of others, you probably need some rest."

It was slightly out of character for Vignette to take on this much work on her own and excuse Gab, but she had to encourage such uncharacteristic charity from her best friend. Besides, the two had made some good progress so far, and she could finish up the rest of the work on her own by eleven thirty at the latest.

"Really? I can go?" Gabriel asked as her face lit up with what Vignette could only call angelic joy. When she nodded, the girl pulled her into a hug of her own. This was the most enthusiasm she had seen from the gamer all day.

When the girl had finished packing her things – which only took her about fifteen seconds – and left, Vignette just smiled and continued her work. A friendly wave was the last she saw of her friend for the night. With a resolved smile, she set back to the project. She may not be volunteering at a local church, but she couldn't let Gabriel be the only one hard at work.

"Ugh. This is such hard work…" Gabriel mumbled as she struggled up the stairs towards her dorm. She was currently over-encumbered by the weight of four two-liter bottles of soda in one bag – carried by her right arm – and two bags of potato chips in her other arm. She panted on every step and sighed in relief when she reached her door. Placing the sodas on the ground for a brief moment, she fumbled for her key and unlocked the door. She walked into the door and used her hip to close the door and, after putting the rations on her bed, she locked her door.

Her dorm was rather small. It had a small single bed on the left, an end table next to the bed, a small square table on the opposite side of the bed and a closet next to it. She had a small round purple rug that went well alongside her pink comforter set and matching pillowcase. The table was a small foldable wooden thing that one might expect to find on a patio. It had two matching wooden chairs that were also foldable. The closet was small. It was about a 2x2 room with a small storage shelf above the hangers.

Gabriel moved the groceries to the table and plopped onto her bed with an unattractive grunt. She opened her laptop, plugged it into the wall, and turned on her wireless mouse. Tapping the power button, she pulled out her phone and browsed Reddit as she waited for the boot up sequence. After an annoying patch with a few inevitable post-launch hotfixes, she finally logged into "Hallowed World," her newest MMORPG. At the character selection screen, she selected her only character, Gabriellia – Gabrielle was taken, as was Gabriella. With a quick tap of her index finger, she hit the play button.

Opening her friend's list, she saw that her only friend so far in this game – Display Name: Archdemon003, character name: Satanichia – was online. With a quick navigation of the menu, she sent a group invite to the other character. It was accepted almost immediately.

 **Archdemon003 was invited to the party!**

 **Archdemon003 has joined the party!**

Party: Archdemon003: Ah, if it isn't my greatest ally in the fight against the darkness!

Gabriel facepalmed, but there was a grin on her face at the silly antics of the roleplayer. She always threatened to leave the group and stop talking to the girl when she RP'ed in group chat, but she would never actually do it. To be honest, she found it quite endearing. _Ah, to hell with it._ With a deep breath, she mentally braced herself and tried to channel her grammar lessons from school.

Party: Archangel001: O powerful demon! Hast thou forgotten that thou art a force of darkness as well?

She felt a little awkward at her in-character talk, since she had never RP'ed before, but she smirked at her response to the demon character. She would love to see her partner's face at the sudden change in her speech pattern and grammar. _I bet she's flabbergasted._

Party: Archdemon003: Nyahahahaha! You are mistaken, for I stand on a different level than these pathetic excuses for demons!

Party: FallenAngel001: Truly, they shall tremble before your fiery wrath and the power of God combined! ((just need to repair my gear))

Gabriellia went to a tailor to have her equipment repaired and began the trek to her pal's locations. She said a few prayers to buff them and Satanichia traded a few potions of regeneration to her. It was definitely nice to have an alchemist in the party. Between her angelic buffs and the potions that were in supply, the two were nearly unstoppable and could even challenge enemies that were twice their level.

Party: Archdemon003: We shall make them beg for mercy! ((Also, welcome back!))

Party: FallenAngel001: thanks long day -.- do u have a mic?

Maybe Gabriel was used to the quick replies, so after two or three minutes of their characters idling together, she was surprised that she was still waiting for a response. Her avatar started dancing in place as she sorted her inventory and put the potions on her hotbar. Just when she was about to stop dancing and spam heals on the other girls' character to fill up her notification bar, she finally got a response.

Party: Archdemon003: I'm back! So sorry! I had to find my mic!

Gabriel opened the game menu and clicked on the "Social" tab. She checked the box next to "Enable Voice Chat" and plugged her own gaming headset in. The green light appeared on the mic and she held the push-to-talk button to test her mic out. Seeing the indication on the screen that the game was indeed picking up her input, she smiled in satisfaction and typed a response.

Party: FallenAngel001: heh i was starting to get worried. join voice chat

Party: Archdemon003: My sincere apologies. There was a disturbance of the highest demonic order to which I was forced to attend.

After a short pause, Gabriel noted the icon in the top left of the screen that indicated a new addition to the party chat: Satanichia. Her character icon was just the facial portrait of her character in its starting gear, while Gabriellia's was a simple angelic symbol from the game's lore.

"Can you hear me?" she asked cautiously. There was yet another pause until Gabriel heard the response.

"H-hello," the soft voice mumbled. She could barely hear the other girl because she was speaking too softly.

"I can't hear you. Can you speak up?" Gabriel asked. She wasn't being unkind, but she was simply straight to the point in a no-nonsense manner.

"S-sorry! I'm not… not used to this," the other girl said a little more clearly. Gabriel wasn't sure what she expected, but it wasn't this. This girl who played a demonic character – whom happened to be a tank – and said such confident boisterous things sounding so… shy in real life? It was a subversion of her expectations and, honestly, she found the tiny, shy voice to be somewhat adorable. Like a puppy that tries to growl or a lion cub roaring.

"It's okay," she said, trying to dispel the awkwardness of a first voice-to-voice conversation. The awkwardness would just make it worse, since the two played the game quite often and would likely continue to do so I the future. She continued, "So I think we should head to the Mortal Realms in the ruins of Pennsylvania for our next quest. I hear there's a demon warlord that drops a pretty good sword and a cosmetic halo."

"T-that sounds good. I've been meaning to upgrade my sword for some time and I'm almost level ten," she said as her character drank the potions in her inventory. Gabriel noted that this girl didn't speak in-character on voice chat, to her surprise.

"Good. When I reach level ten, we can form a guild. We should start considering names," she mused as her character, too, drank the potions that she had obtained from the other girl's character. She buffed both of them with stamina and health buffs and cracked her knuckles to get ready to cast her healing spells.

"Yeah. Do you have any ideas?" she asked as she activated a teleportation stone to teleport to Pennsylvania and stood outside the ruins of Philadelphia, waiting for Gabriel to give the sign before charging in.

"Go!" she ordered as her demon friend charged in and began fighting the other demons. Her friend's dodge rating was so high that most enemies couldn't land a hit, and those that did were splashed with her acidic demon blood and took damage from that. Between these traits and their toughened skin, demon characters made fantastic tanks, and, for someone new to MMORPGs, her friend was actually one of the best tanks she had ever grouped with. She had yet to be attacked by any mobs during their (so far) short leveling adventures and she was quite happy to have made this friend. As she casted a healing spell and a shielding spell, she spoke, "I was thinking something like Holy Hellfire or Fiery Heavens."

The other girl didn't drop aggro in the slightest as she responded, "I like the first one. _Holy Hellfire._ It has a ring to it."

They had made it a few blocks into Philadelphia, and they were approaching the supposed spawn location of the NPC that would supposedly give the quest that spawned the demon warlord that dropped the sword and cosmetic halo. Thanks to the addition of voice chat to their repertoire, they didn't have to stop to type, so the leveling process was much faster. Not a single player had reached the level cap – level 75 – yet, so that was still very much a desire of Gab's, and with her partner, it was actually a possibility. The two were steamrolling through the ruined streets of the Pennsylvania town.

"I found the NPC," Gabriel said quickly as her character jumped up and down to show the location to her party member.

"Hey, this is one of the refugees from your healing spell quest last night," Satanichia noted.

"Huh. You're right," Gabriel said, impressed with the attention to detail the game developers showed with the continuity of the quest.

The girls accepted the quest and fought through more of the city to get to the mini-boss. The fight itself was supposedly simple. The tank just had to face the enemy away from the group because of a massive cone-shaped area spell that damaged all players caught in the blast. As soon as it was cast, the tank would need to sidestep the blast and taunt the mini-boss again to ensure it doesn't face any other players.

For a veteran player like Gabriel and a talented tank like Satanichia, the fight went off without a hitch. The Demon Warrior sidestepped expertly, and her blade slashed at the monstrous flesh of the massive serpent-like demon and the angel's healing magic washed over them both and shielded them from fatal damage. After about two and a half minutes of fighting the boss, it finally fell in a bloody death and a burst of fire that dealt heavy damage to both players, but Gabriel managed to heal through it with no problems.

Satanichia leveled up to ten from the kill and equipped her new sword. It was a smoldering black sword with fiery cracks traveling from the pommel to the tip of the blade. The guard itself was actually made of two sharp black spikes that matched the obsidian of the blade, but with actual flames coming off of the spikes in a fiery cross-guard. Gabriel's eyes widened at the HP increase that simply equipping the sword provided.

"Wow, that was a sweet upgrade," she noted with excitement.

"You're right. Did your halo drop?" the demon asked.

"Uh, no, but can we try again tomorrow? The boss is repeatable, I think," she said with slight uncertainty.

"Of course. I'd love to test out my new-," but she was interrupted by a voice in the distance. Gabriel couldn't quite make out what was being said, however. After a brief moment, Satanichia was back and quietly asked, "I, uh, I have to go. I'm sorry. Will you be online tomorrow?"

Usually Gabriel was the one that was forced to log out early, so this was quite a surprise, but it couldn't be helped.

"Yeah, I will. I'll be on right after school," she answered as she teleported back to a neutral town to log out. Out of slight curiosity, she asked, "Is everything alright?"

After a brief second, Satanichia said loudly, "Of course! Nothing could be better for the powerful Satanichia! I have a powerful minion and a new sword!"

Gabriel couldn't stop her giggle.

"Okay, then, _Mistress,_ let's meet up again tomorrow," she said jokingly and left the voice chat as the other girl logged out. She took her mic off and rolled over to look at the clock on her end table.

10:17 pm.

 _It's amazing how time flies_. She yawned and grabbed a chip from the bag that she didn't even remember opening and took a swig of the soda that she also didn't remember opening. After putting her meal on her end table, she turned her attention back to her game, deciding to spend some time working on her cooking skill. She needed to learn some kind of crafting skill, and she couldn't let Satanichia be the only one hard at work with her alchemy.

Satanichia lay in her bed trying to stop crying as she rubbed the bruise on her neck. She had thought that she was in the clear when she excused herself from dinner, but apparently tonight was one of her father's "drinking" nights. He likely wouldn't even remember what had happened by tomorrow, but she would. So would her mother. It had been months since an incident like this, however, and even she had let herself believe they were finally over. She thought she would only have to deal with her father's normal obnoxiousness from now on. She had been wrong.

She hadn't even said a word to him when called for her to come to his room. She had apparently taken too long, as evidenced by the bruise on her neck and the one on her ribs. Her mother had promised through her own tears that it wouldn't happen again, but Satanichia had heard it all again. This had been the whole reason she had forsworn her given name for her online username, and it was the reason she had grown to loath her father. The only silver lining was that he had never laid a finger on her brother. The moment that should ever happen, her mother would likely even have the courage to act.

She pushed away the pain and focused on falling asleep. Her tears were no longer falling, but her face was still red, wet, and hot. Her nose was running and she couldn't stop sniffling, but at least the crying had mostly stopped. She had learned to cry quietly and to stop as quickly as possible on her dad's drinking nights.

As she dozed off, the only bright spot in her dreams was an angel standing at the end of a dark tunnel, reaching out to her. Oh, what she would give for that presence right now.


	3. Trio

**Hey guys! I'm sorry about the delay! I wanted so badly to have this chapter finished about four days ago, at least, but the Holidays kind of slowed me down. I sincerely appreciate those of you that are reading this. As a beginner author on his second attempt at any form of writing, it means a lot that people are interested in this story that I'm telling.**

 **I just want to point out that there is some religious subtext and inference in this fic. I know little about most faiths, not being particularly religious myself, but since this is for 'Gabriel Dropout!' I figured that some religious themes would be acceptable. I'm not trying to discourage or encourage any particular faiths, though. Again, thanks!**

Fiery red hair swished around as the demon warrior's blazing blade slashed through the flesh of some of the more mindless demons in the infernal forest of burning trees and scorched earth. Acidic blood splashed upon the ground and a faint _sizzle_ was heard as the ichor-like substance flooded onto the charcoal-like dirt. Flesh ripped as the sword was wrested from the toughened flesh and bone crunched in the wake of the unholy weapon's tumultuous rampage. The furious intent of the instrument of war was palpable, but, surprisingly, the negative feelings weren't reciprocated by the wielder.

Almost indifferent to the gore and blood – her demonic skin was impervious to the acidic effects of the enemies' blood – Satanichia simply scowled in annoyance at any opponent that managed to survive her powerful onslaught. Those who did survive were subjected to her demonic magic – more specifically, a burst of unholy black flame that exploded outwards in a conical blast and enveloped her opponents in a kerfuffle of agonizing screams and suffering.

On the slim chance that the opponents managed to even land a strike on the dark warrior, holy protective wards either prevented any damage to the taller girl or negated the damage altogether. Her wounds knitted together with a slight pinch-like feeling due to the contrasting natures of their magic, but she survived and her ally was protected. That was all that mattered right now.

However, the angel behind her could notice the difference in her countenance. Normally she was cackling and basking in the joy of disemboweling and decapitating the followers of the evil demon warlord. She would ordinarily proclaim to the Devil himself her name and her power, inviting any minions of the traitorous demon warlord to challenge her skill and ferocity. Today, well, she was simply killing in a mechanical fashion. Like a machine designed to perform a task, but not to experience any joy from such an act.

The angel said a silent prayer for the fate of the strange ally. While, as an angel, she couldn't encourage such evil behavior as enjoying the act of killing, she could certainly pray that the other girl would find her prior peace of mind and certainty in her decisions and life situation.

"You're awfully quiet today," Gabriel noted before taking a sip of the energy drink beside her bed on the end table. The two had started communicating via voice chat the previous day to save time that was normally spent typing and to communicate more effectively. Plus, it was just more fun to talk than to chat via text in a moving wall of words in the chat box. It was less straining on the eyes and it was easier to not miss a message.

At least, that was the theory. The two had spoken together pretty well on the first day, at least until Satanichia had been forced to log off for some reason. Normally Gabriel had to leave because of her woefully responsible friend Vignette, so she was definitely understanding when the other girl had to go for personal reasons. She hadn't explained after logging on today, and Gabriel didn't ask. After all, if she was meant to find out, the other girl would tell her. Otherwise, she just wouldn't know.

Which led to today. The other girl hadn't explained, which was fine, but something must have happened. She had barely even said hello when the two girls grouped up and joined their voice chat channel. After that, she had only communicated the bare minimum of information for their questing experience, and she hadn't even spoken in-character, as she normally would. She was surprisingly quiet with the words she did speak, and her sentences seemed, for lack of a better word, hesitant.

If Gabriel was more aware of her own feelings, she would realize she was actually worried for the girl that she was beginning to see as a friend, but she wasn't, so she didn't.

"S-sorry. I had a rough night last night," the girl mumbled uncertainly. Indeed, Gabriel could certainly tell that it was true. She could hear _something_ in the girl's voice, but she couldn't quite place it. If she had to compare it to anything, she would say it had a trace of fear in it, of all emotions. Not that she was an expert on emotions, though.

"Want to talk about it?" Gabriel uncharacteristically asked her partner. She wasn't normally for the personal or emotional talk, but anything to break the silence was welcome. It wasn't that she wasn't okay with silence, but that was normally comfortable silence that came when questing for four to eleven hours after school. Not this silence that obviously accompanied some kind of pain for the other girl.

Surprisingly, the girl accepted.

"I guess my dad and I had a disagreement," she said vaguely. Gabriel was surprised that the girl wouldn't get along with her parents. Usually girls that were - well, goofy was the only word Gabriel could think of – got on quite well with their parents, even if they were slightly awkward around their own peers. (Gabriel was quite sure that was the case with this girl.)

"What happened?" Gabriel asked with actual curiosity. She hadn't expected the girl to open up, so she tried to keep up the social momentum.

"Well, I g-guess he was drinking a bit, so I should have watched what I said," she answered in a small voice. Gabriel had a brief mental image of a faceless little girl that looked like a kid and human version of Satanichia's character crying as a grown version with a beard and short hair yelled at her with a bottle of booze in his hand. She knew that there was no way her own imagination was accurate, but that image still put the most minuscule of cracks in her heart.

"I'm sorry about that," Gabriel apologized awkwardly, "My dad used to drink too, and he got pretty heated, but we didn't fight much."

"Oh, sorry to hear that," Satanichia responded, "My sword's durability is low. Can we go back to town and repair our gear?"

Gabriel had a feeling the other girl was changing the subject, but she was fine with that. She had already convinced the other girl to open up, so she couldn't expect much more. After all, the two had only met mere weeks ago, so she couldn't expect to delve too deeply into one another's personal lives.

"Yeah, we can. I leveled my cooking skill, so I can give us food buffs in addition to angel buffs," Gabriel said with an audible smile. She may not have expected deep conversations, but she could at least try to cheer her friend up.

However, she found that her jovial attitude wasn't quite as forced as it had been when she was a child convincing her parents of her success in school prior to being sent to this boarding school in Manchester. Before coming here, she had been the (artificial) picture of innocence. Almost immediately upon moving to this new school, she had been ('corrupted,' as Vignette would say) enticed by video games and found her calling as a slothful lazy-body.

Thus, she was surprised to find that she was genuinely happy talking to her friend. She actually wanted to perk the other girl up. Even Vignette, despite her status as Gabriel's best friend, was never given the opportunity to have a heart to heart with the girl. Sure, she was closer than anyone else could claim to be to the blonde gamer, but their relationship was such that Vignette pushed for a deeper friendship and some form of responsibility from the girl, while Gabriel was content to play her games and adapt to the intrusions by her formerly-only friend.

The biggest difference between her friendships with Vignette and Satanichia (she was using the girl's character's name now instead of her username) was that the latter had bonded with her over the only thing that Gabriel had any passion for: video games. That alone had led to a unique connection between the girls. After all, Gabriel _felt_ emotions more strongly when she played video games, so it made sense for her to mentally associate those emotions with her new friend.

"Good. I'm glad to hear it," the girl responded, "I found out that we need a third member to form a guild." Gabriel could already hear a bit more confidence in her voice. It was a small step, but she would take it. After repairing their equipment, the girls ran back out to the forest to keep killing opponents. Supposedly, a rare burning herb was found in the forest and it could be used for advanced potions, but after hours of killing demon NPCs, the girls hadn't yet found a single herb. They searched in silence for about another half hour.

"We'll have to think about how to go about that," Gabriel said as she pondered their situation. Without realizing it, she asked, "How old are you, by the way?"

"I'm 16," Satanichia said, most traces of timidity gone. Gabriel was realizing that perhaps the girl didn't _need_ some deep conversation to cheer up. Maybe she just needed some time.

"Hm," she grunted, "me too. Nice kill."

"Thanks," Satanichia said, "Where are you from?"

"England," she said hesitantly, "Manchester. How 'bout you? You have an American accent."

"Yeah, I do. My mom learned English from an American teacher, and she taught me," she said, before saying with a purposely exaggerated accent, "But mah father's a Scot, so ah live in Scottlan'."

Gabriel couldn't fight the giggle if she tried (which she didn't). She was surprised that the girl was Scottish. After all, she didn't know of very many Scots with American accents. It was actually more common for Germans (like her parents and herself) to have such an accent.

"Hah. I learned from an American too," she said with fond memories of her old teacher.

"Really? What-" Satanichia asked before being interrupted. However, the girl muted her mic immediately and, after a brief pause, said, "I have to go, Gabriellia. Sorry."

Before Gabriel could even say goodbye, the girl had logged out.

\0/

"I don't want to talk about it," Satanichia said with a glare to her mother. Sure, the woman hadn't done anything to her directly, but she had not only allowed the previous night to happen, but she had interrupted the conversation between her and Gabriellia. While she didn't hate her mother by any means, her presence was a reminder of what had occurred, and that had killed the mood readily enough.

Satanichia rubbed the bruise on her neck absently, her scowl deepening as she watched her mother struggle for words.

"I'm so sorry for what happened, Ana- Satanichia," Amélie corrected herself, "but we have to talk about this."

"Why?" Satanichia asked coldly, noticing her mother's almost-slip-up.

A pause. Amélie sat down next to Satanichia on her bed, leaning forward with her head down in her hands. Her shoulders were shaking slightly. It was clear that she was crying.

"I can't apologize enough, Satanichia. I know that. What your father has done was unforgiveable," she said with pauses for sniffles, "He always promised to leave you alone."

Satanichia crossed her arms and turned to the woman having a break down right next to her, but she didn't say anything. She hated seeing her mother like this, but she hated being choked by her own father even more. A part of her vaguely wondered how long he had been doing such things to her mother. After all, she had avoided such terrible acts by his hand for at least two years at this point.

"It's- it's been so long since he was that bad, but he was passed up for a promotion at work last night," she said mournfully, "That's what set him over the edge last night."

Satanichia couldn't believe what she was hearing. She sighed in frustration, "And I'm supposed to forgive him?"

Amélie shook her head, wiping her eyes dry, "No, j-just…I'm sorry. I thought it was over, too. It's been so long."

"Where is he?" Satanichia asked coldly.

"He needed some time away," she said, "to cool off…"

" _He_ needed time away!?" Satanichia shouted, "He's not the one that had to skip school because of bruises and cuts on his face and neck!"

She noticed her mother wince at her raised voice, but she didn't care at this point. The older woman became rather quiet.

"I agree," she began, "which is why I was thinking about what we should do to protect you."

Satanichia calmed down at the words as her curiosity was piqued.

"Protect me? What do you mean?" she asked warily.

Her mom sighed dejectedly, "If I even _think_ he's going to do that again, I want to send you aw-"

"Send me away!?" Satanichia interrupted the older woman, "What do you mean? Where could you possibly send me?"

The grave look on her mother's face began to set off alarm bells in her head. She knew that she would dread the answer before her mom uttered a single word. Alarmed, she sputtered out, "No! Please not-"

"Raphi-"

"-Raphael!"

Unperturbed by her daughter's reluctance, Amélie continued," -said that she would love for her favorite cousin to live with her, and you know my sister wouldn't mind having you. There are prestigious schools-"

"No! Please! She's so… so evil!" Satanichia begged.

Amélie actually laughed at that. She made a soothing motion with her hands and smiled, "She's not evil, Satanichia, she's just…different."

Satanichia shuddered slightly as the dread washed over her.

"When do I go?" she asked quietly. Her mom put her right hand on the girl's shoulder and made eye contact for the first time since the previous night.

"Let's wait and see what happens, but if I don't trust him, you can go immediately. I'll take care of the paperwork and legal issues of transferring you," she said in a reassuring tone. Satanichia had to admit that, despite the less than ideal situation, her mom really did plan this out and genuinely seemed to want her to be safe.

"Fine," she said, but there wasn't any coldness any her voice like earlier.

\0/

Vignette was fuming on Gabriel's bed while the blonde was rapidly scarfing some ramen noodles down. Ever since Vignette had arrived about a half hour ago, her friend had only stopped playing her video game once, and that was to microwave the noodles she was now devouring. She had continued to play while they were heated and, even now, she was sitting up on the bed next to Vignette, slurping noodles that she guided with one hand on a fork and using the other to single-handedly play her video game.

She hadn't even noticed Vignette walking into her dorm for at least twenty minutes after the taller girl had arrived.

However, that wasn't what had irritated the girl. What had irritated her was that she had made a fool of herself because of her lazy friend's lies.

Gabriel had declined Vignette's offers to hang out today because of a supposed responsibility to volunteer at her church tonight after school. Vignette had naturally been very proud of her friend for, firstly, getting out of the dorm for a while, and, secondly, doing some good for some less fortunate people. The raven-haired student had even decided to surprise her friend with a cupcake and a cup of tea, but she had run into an obstacle. Specifically, she had not known _which_ church her friend had become a part of.

Deciding not to spoil the surprise, Vignette had called church after church to inquire about whether Gabriel volunteered at that particular establishment, but with fifty-five major churches in the city, she had known that it would take a miracle to find out which religious institute the girl liked to work at. Giving up after calling about nine churches, Vignette had ultimately decided instead to just come to Gabriel's dorm and surprise the younger girl when she returned home.

Initially Vignette was speechless. She hadn't known what _to_ say. Her friend had, from the looks of it, completely lied to her. She had just closed the door and stared blankly at her friend as she clicked and clacked on her laptop's keyboard. Gabriel's first acknowledgement of her presence had been an absent-minded, "What's in the bag?"

After a few minutes on Gabriel's bed to mentally remind herself _why_ the girl was her best friend, Vignette finally spoke.

"I thought you had to volunteer at the church," she stated dubiously.

Gabriel tilted her head in confusion before her eyes lit up with recognition and a bright smile.

"Oh! You're curious about it?" she asked happily.

Vignette had to draw from every ounce of her self-control to avoid strangling the sister figure, but she just nodded and let out an _'mhm.'_

Gabriel, with more excitement than Vignette had ever seen in the girl, gestured for the girl to move closer and pointed excitedly to her laptop screen. Vignette realized that her friend had made up the story of volunteering at the church to get out of their group assignment in order to play video games. She also realized that she had used the same false excuse to avoid having to leave her dorm room for the night.

"Let me get this straight. There is no church?" Vignette confirmed in a low, frustrated voice.

Gabriel raised a brow in confusion.

"What? I'm showing you the church. Look! See?" the blonde said ridiculously as she pointed to her laptop screen. Vignette stared at the church on Gabriel's laptop in shock. It was a church, all right, but it was a virtual church. Looking at the lazybody's face, Vignette noticed that the girl was genuinely proud of her accomplishments.

"B-but, what about the refugees? The Satanist?" Vignette asked, trying to find some kernel of faith in her friend, but failing to do so.

"Yeah, refugees from Heaven, and she's not a Satanist. She's a demon, and I'm her healer," Gabriel said with an expressionless face. Vignette knew her friend well, and she knew that the girl honestly didn't believe what she had done was wrong. In fact, from her point of view, she likely honestly thought that what she had told Vignette was the actual truth.

Vignette sighed, "Sometimes you're more trouble than you're worth, Gab."

"That's rude," Gabriel said as she kept pressing buttons and her avatar seemed to be operating a primitive, yet ornamental cooking oven. Oh, if only Gabriel would spend half the time she spent playing video games to develop skills in real life, she could probably rule the world.

A sharp _ping_ went off on Gabriel's laptop, and the girl rose from her bed, searching through her wardrobe on the other side of the room. Vignette followed her over to the container and peeked over the shorter girl's shoulder.

"What are you looking for?" she asked curiously.

"This!" Gabriel said in triumph, holding a simple tabletop microphone into the air and waving it frantically like a frustrated wizard waving a failing wand.

"What's that for?" Vignette tilted her head in confusion.

"You're going to meet my friend," Gabriel said as if it was common knowledge that such a meeting was going to occur. She plugged her mic into her laptop and moved the whole setup onto the small dining table in her room. Ensuring that her laptop was still charging, she pressed a few buttons and spoke into the microphone with the typical 'testing, testing,' messages and, apparently satisfied, gestured for Vignette to pull up a chair and sit beside her at the table. She opened a few menus in the video game and spoke into the microphone with a smile, "Hey, Satanichia. Didn't expect you back so soon."

"Well, fear not, for I have returned that you may bask in my glory and power!" a loud voice erupted from the speaker on Gabriel's laptop. Gabriel was smiling at the deafening voice, however, so Vignette didn't say anything or make any move to cover her ears.

"It seems that you're in a good mood now," Gabriel commented happily, before asking, " Do you feel up to meeting a friend of mine?"

Vignette noticed that Gabriel was playing the video game, assumedly with this other girl, without any form of communication about the nature of the game at all. That meant that the two were on the same page and didn't even need to communicate their strategies and plans. It wouldn't have been such a big deal, except for the fact that it was _Gabriel_ _White_ showing some form of initiative and motivation. Had Vignette had a camera, she would have taken a picture.

"Eh? A friend?" the other girl asked curiously, "Of course. A leader must get to know _all_ of her underlings."

Vignette was slightly thrown off by the odd behavior of this strange girl. Glory and power? Leader? Underlings? Gabriel nudged her with her elbow, and Vignette found herself at a loss for words. What could one say to such strange greetings and sentences?

"Erh, hello," she began, "my name is Vignette. It's nice to meet you."

She decided to just be as polite as possible and hope that was suitable for the other girl.

"And you, my newest minion, may refer to me as Satanichia, the true Queen of Hell!" the voice shouted confidently.

Gabriel was giggling beside her, but Vignette ignored her, deadpanning, "So, should I refer to you as Master?"

Gabriel's giggles intensified into chuckles as Satanichia answered, "Of course! The weak should serve the powerful!"

Vignette had a strong feeling that Satanichia was the type of girl to be bullied in real life, and so she couldn't help but to feel sorry for the poor girl. She opted to play along with the strange friend of a friend.

"To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the-" she began.

"-freedoms of another is to forgo one's own," Satanichia interrupted. Gabriel's giggling stopped, and her mouth dropped. Vignette, too, was surprised by the revelation. She had yet to meet another individual that practiced Satanism outside of her own family.

"You're a Satanist too, Satanichia?" Gabriel asked in surprise. Vignette mused that the name should probably have tipped both of them off, but she had definitely seen stranger online usernames, and she wasn't even a gamer.

"No," the other girl said distantly, dropping character completely," but my family is."

Vignette could sense the girl's hostility towards her family, so she knew it wouldn't be prudent to ask about her family situation. She decided instead to change the subject.

"Could you please explain this game to me, Gab?" she asked.

Gabriel turned to her with a shocked look on her face. Her eyes were basically sparkling with pure joy and her face was torn between a gasp and a massive smile, showing all of her teeth.

"Do you have your laptop?" Gabriel asked with a perfectly angelic voice that was overwhelmed with pure excitement. She sounded more like a little sister that was finally being included in the older sibling's activities than a friend of the same age. Vignette smiled as she opened her back to retrieve her laptop.

\0/

The angel and demon marched along the molten path in the ruins that could once be called a forest. The everburning grass crunched below their feet and turned to ash almost immediately with each footstep. The holy staff on the angel's back scraped against the ground and purified the sections of the earth that it came into contact with. The obsidian steel chainmail on the demon jingled and clanged with the movement of the group and the revealing cloth robe on the angel, by contrast, rustled softly.

The sunshine was blocked by dark, ashy clouds and smoke filled the air, making easy breaths an impossibility. Thankfully, immortals weren't in need of such trifling things as oxygen.

The march came to a half when the angel stopped before a trembling figure on the ground. The figure had a small, feminine frame and she was almost completely covered by a dark blue cloak. The only part of her that was visible was her shiny black hair sticking out from under the cloak. A soft whimper came from the shrouded woman as the two allies approached her.

After the demon warrior pulled the cloak away, both girls gasped at the sight before them: it was a demon, but her eyes, which should have been blackened or corrupted in fiery power, were shining in a bright silver. Her skin, which should have been charred or otherwise tainted, was like smooth porcelain, only softer. Her teeth were perfect, with neither a fang nor a crack.

After a brief look between the duo, the angel extended a hand of greeting to the newcomer. As the girl rose, the demon's eyes turned to a dark grey flower bathed in a purple flame where she had lay.


	4. Lawful Evil

**I'm sorry about the long wait for this chapter! Long story short, circumstances led to be taking a second full time job and I've just been super exhausted. I do apologize, though. I feel like I progressed a little too quickly in this chapter, but in the grand scheme of this fic, it's still pretty early on. I'm overall pretty happy with this chapter. Also, because of violence/language, I changed the rating to M. My apologies. Hope you guys enjoy!**

A cold wind assaulted the angel's ears, which were red due to the intensity of the temperature. The temperature was such that any nearby fountains were completely frozen, and, likewise, any nearby streams were equally solid and unmoving. The marble halls that were once as majestic as the very peak of the heavens were decrepit, the walls cracked and damaged and the floors fallen through in places. Each delicate footstep – and angels have very delicate footsteps – was rewarded with a sound similar to walking on gravel as the stone below their feet slowly crumbled. The once glowing radiance of the halls was now dark as corruption seeped into the once holy aura that should have permeated the air.

Not a single angel had survived the onslaught into this once-hallowed ground. Once a temple on Earth in servitude to God, the angels tasked with keeping vigilance over the monastery had fallen so easily to the infernal attackers.

Sure, the demons and angels were _supposed_ to war with each other. It was a prophecy long foretold in many faiths. The prophecy varied in different mortal faiths, but whether it was portrayed as a war between gods, an end time signaled by the fall of a particular god, ten thousand years of darkness and redemption, or even as a metaphor for the sins of mankind, the result almost always involved some form of conflict between good and evil.

However, in truth, the war between the forces of Heaven and the forces of Hell wasn't supposed to begin for another several millennia. The demons and angels had formed a truce – well, a truce was ordered by God himself – until the time that all mortals that have or ever would be could be judged and face either salvation for their righteousness or damnation for their sins. Only then would the war begin, and, as many wise angels had foreseen since the dawn of time, darkness would triumph. After darkness rose and ruled, the angels would rise up and stop the demons, claiming Heaven and Earth as their own in the name of the Lord. It was part of God's plan, and it was part of the judgement of mankind.

Naturally, a group of demons had fucked all of that up. While a majority of demons had resigned themselves to the fate and destiny of their race, a few had decided that they would not accept such a future without a fight. The small group of rebellious demons had betrayed their Dark Lord and had used old rituals to destroy the barrier between Heaven and Hell. Chaos had ensued. Demons had slain angels and desecrated monuments to God with a fury and bloodlust that had never before been seen.

It should have been unheard of, demons stepping forth into such holy places, but it had happened. Many angels – not all of which were even trained to fight – were slaughtered and their holy blood had flooded the sacred halls. Those who survived didn't understand what had happened or how it had happened, but they had been forced to stand against the demons. Unfortunately, the surprise attack had managed to take down a vast majority of the forces of God, and only small groups of angel warriors had remained.

Luckily, the angels were not alone. Not only had the evil demons – under the banner of a black halo cast into a lake of fire – almost completely conquered all but the most holy parts of Heaven, but they had plunged their forces into the realms of Hell, as well. The ideal that they believed in was that of controlling their own destiny, and, in their eyes, both the Angels and Demons had betrayed it. They marched and slaughtered even the corrupted souls in the fiery underworld. The surviving Demons and Angels had made a reluctant pact. They would stand together and stop the traitorous monsters.

One such coalition group now stood before this ruined temple on the mortal realms. This had been a place where angels and mortals could come together and revere their God. The mortals and angels alike had been mercilessly destroyed. All that had survived was a holy relic. A gold-lined cloak said to radiate holy energy to such an extent that any wounds within a short range of its wearer were nearly instantly healed. The existence of the relic was not a rumor, but its survival in the aftermath of the assault were. It was unlikely that such a relic would not only survive the attack but remained untouched.

Yet, the only corpses the angel and two demons accompanying her had seen this close to the depths of the holy temple were the corpses of traitorous demons. There were no angel corpses so deep in the sacred catacombs. Gabriellia even felt a holy radiance as they descended the stairs. It was almost like she was being dipped in soothing warm water. It was a sense of peace and righteousness.

"Sweet. Angels get a buff in this map," Gabriel said with a brief fist pump in the air. A health regeneration and damage reduction buff had been applied to her, but, unfortunately, a minus attack and maximum health decrease debuff had been placed on her demonic allies.

This was the new routine for the girls, who had been playing in a trio for the previous week. While Vignette was reluctant to log in so often – she was the type of girl to actually _do_ her homework, after all – Gabriel could usually convince the girl to do so anyway. After all, for her friend to actually show an interest in something and try to involve her in it, Vignette was happy to join in… within reason.

The problem was that the other girls would literally spend seven to ten hours every night – _after school!_ – playing the video game together. Vignette joined in, sure, but she usually capped out at about three hours, opting to finish her homework and head home. Occasionally she would reluctantly stay at Gabriel's house overnight and continue playing with the others. This normally occurred on weekends, but it did happen. However, as a result of her refusal to sink into the depravity of being a full-time gamer, she consequently had trouble keeping up with the other girls in level.

Her lower level combined with her lack of video game experience made it quite the chore for the other girls to pull her along on their adventures. They never said as much, but it was clear to Vignette when Gabriel told Satanichia to slow down. The two actual gamers in the group were certainly patient with her, though. They never hesitated to explain anything about the game they were playing, whether it was the storyline or the game mechanics. Vignette luckily caught on rather quickly. Looking back at day one with the group, she was proud that she was no longer asking such basic questions as "what is mana?" or "how do I jump?" She would definitely be surprised if she ever lived that one down. That definitely didn't mean that nothing else could confuse her, however.

"Um, Gab," she said somewhat softly to avoid the echo from speaking into a mic while in the same room as her friend. Gabriel and Satanichia's avatars stopped running just in case something was wrong with Vignette. The angelic healer readied a healing spell – that is, she readied her left index finger over the keybind for a healing spell.

"Yeah?"

"What's a buff?" Vignette asked, slightly embarrassed.

"Oh. It's a beneficial effect for your character," Gabriel explained, "while a debuff is a negative condition for your character. Your curses are considered debuffs because they cause damage to the opponent and lower their stats."

"Oh, thanks."

The party kept running along in the dungeon, excitedly approaching the end and, hopefully, a new cloak for Gabriel. The three characters entered a massive room that extended several stories high with lit torches lining the walls and a simple chandelier hanging in the center above a silver altar.

"This has to be it!" Gabriel said excitedly. Vignette still couldn't get used to seeing the normally borderline sadistic girl so fired up about something. She approached the other two characters at the altar.

"How do we summon the boss?" Satanichia asked curiously. That was another thing that threw Vignette off a bit. When they first met, the girl was loud, obnoxious, and overly confident. Gabriel might not have noticed it, but it was clear to Vignette that the girl was faking her confidence. She was putting on a show to convince the two of them that she was confident in her abilities and herself, but, after a week, she had begun to calm down and speak with more openness. She hadn't even proclaimed her name and power in about four days.

"I dunno. Right clicking it is doing nothing," Gabriel mused. Furious clicking filled the room as she tried what had to be everything she could think of, but nothing seemed to be working. Vignette didn't know how she could possibly help, so she just stayed out of the way.

"Gabriellia," Satanichia began, using the other girl's avatar name, "isn't it obvious?"

"What do you mean…?" Gabriel asked hesitantly.

"Vignetta," she said, again, using Vignette's avatar name," come here."

Vignette's avatar ran over to the other demon avatar and stood beside the pair. She was honestly confused, but apparently Satanichia had some kind of idea, so who was she to argue?

"Okay. What now?"

"Use your ritual spell to sacrifice your health for damage buffs," Satanichia instructed her. Vignette had no problem complying, and she even knew what a buff was, so she quickly found the spell that Satanichia was talking about in her spellbook menuand cast it, wincing as her health bar dropped a fair amount.

"More than that," Satanichia urged her," I'll tell you when to stop."

Vignette wasn't entirely sure exactly what was going on, but she just played along. She pressed the key for her ritual spell over and over. Her character seemed to be in a loop of drawing a knife across her palm and channeling magic from the blood. Truthfully, Vignette found it kind of icky, but at least it was just a video game.

Her health bar kept dropping little by little until finally, it was empty. Really, she should have expected the outcome, but she had thought that there would be a safeguard to prevent actual character death from the spell. She was wrong. Her character let out a shriek of agony and slumped to the ground, lifeless.

 **You have fallen!**

"I'm dead," she said flatly. She tried to ignore Gabriel giggling beside her.

"Good!" Satanichia cheered into the microphone," now Gabriel can resurrect you on the altar on which you died."

Gabriel shrugged and began casting the resurrection spell in her repertoire, but it was clear that she wasn't expecting it to work. Thus, all three girls were surprised when the altar began glowing as soon as Vignette's lifeless body rose once again.

"Wow," Gabriel sounded impressed," you're actually pretty smart."

Vignette facepalmed at her friend's terrible excuse for a compliment but clicked the 'Accept Resurrection' button when it popped up on her screen. Though nothing was said by the distant girl, both could almost feel Satanichia's smugness through the silence of the microphone.

Unfortunately for the ecstatic girls, the glowing altar was actually a premonition of doom, for instead of a powerful holy item or a slightly powerful demon appearing before them, a massive corrupted holy juggernaut rose from the debris scattered about the room. A 'mechanical' being made of magical slabs of hallowed marble stood at four times the height of the three girls' avatars. It was held together by demonic energy, but it was clear that it was angelic in origin. The construct's shining eyes, once likely golden, flashed in an eerie red light. It took less than fifteen seconds for the three unprepared girls to meet their doom.

"Satania," Gabriel said quietly.

After a brief hesitation, the girl replied, "Um, yes?"

"You're an idiot."

"S-sorry," the girl apologized shyly.

"This is a good cutoff time," Vignette chimed in, looking at the clock.

"What?" both of the other girls interrupted her simultaneously.

"It's still early," Gabriel argued, ignoring the fact that the wall clock and both laptops displayed '11:35 p.m.' and tilting her head in confusion at Vignette's apparently outlandish suggestion.

"We have a big test tomorrow," she reasoned, "or have you forgotten how important this test is?"

The test she was referring to was an entry exam for one of the universities both girls had applied to. It had taken a lot of metaphorical arm twisting just to convince Gabriel to apply to a college period, instead of just being a sloth cooped up in her room forever, so Vignette would be damned if she let the girl skip this exam.

"Ah, right," she said reluctantly, before suggesting, "can I skip it?"

Vignette knew her face had darkened, but she was fine with that. She could be scary when she needed to be, and, right now, she really needed to be. She fixed her best friend with a dark look that was almost more like annoyance than anger, but the underlying threat was made deceptively clear despite its vagueness. Gabriel immediately perked up in fear.

"R-right. It's an important test," she amended, "Satania, will you be online tomorrow?"

"Hmm?" the girl reacted to her name, responding quickly, "y-wait, one sec. Uh, yeah, I should, I think."

"Ah, well, we can kill that boss ," she said, and Vignette could notice the enthusiasm in the blonde's voice, "Good night."

"Good night," Satanichia said happily.

"Good night," Vignette directed towards Satanichia. She would obviously be spending the night at Gabriel's dorm, since there was no policy against same-sex overnight stays in dorm rooms.

The three friends logged off simultaneously, Gabriel and Vignette putting their headsets down on their laptops and Gabriel moving her laptop from her bed to the table next to Vignette's own. Gabriel slogged lazily over to the fridge, pulling out a quart-sized carton of juice and drinking directly from it. Vignette would have winced, had she not long ago grown accustomed to it. However, she still couldn't just _not_ try to correct the younger girl.

"Could you please at least _pretend_ to be a civilized human being?" Vignette asked, her tone flat yet with its own touch of fondness.

Gabriel stopped drinking the juice, squinting her eyes in confusion. Realization appeared on her face. She smiled, extending the juice towards Vignette in offering.

"Sorry about that," she said politely. Vignette shook her head, silently yet politely refusing the offer.

The shorter girl returned the juice to the fridge and turned the lights off, using a flashlight on her cell phone to navigate. She ungracefully plopped onto her bed. She, as per usual, scooted to the edge of the bed to make room for her best friend, but Vignette knew that she would end up on the floor when Gabriel kicked her in her sleep. Regardless, she crawled into the bed and pulled the covers up.

"Good night, Vigne," she said as she turned off the flashlight app and reached over Vignette to place her phone on the table.

"Good night, Gab."

\0.0/ /\0/\ O /0\

Satanichia woke up about six minutes before her alarm clock, and she knew from that alone that it would be a shitty day. Boy was she right. Sure, she had managed to not sleep through her alarm clock, but that was only a good feat if the alarm clock was set for the appropriate time. As it was, however, her alarm clock was set for a whole hour later than she normally would have woken.

Simply put, she was going to be late for school.

Satanichia didn't live far from school, so she normally walked. To be honest, she was baffled as to the reasoning behind her parents homeschooling her for all those years when she was so close to a public school. Had they just sent her there in the beginning, she may have even had an easier time interacting with her peers. She may even have made a friend.

As it was, she had no one. Well, no one but a girl hundreds of miles away. A girl that she had never even met.

Sure, her mother tried her best, and Satanichia could appreciate that, but the abuse she had suffered not even a week ago wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last. Her mother's offer to send her away was a good sign, and her heart was in the right place, but she was reluctant to live with her sadistic cousin and her religious family.

She quickly jumped out of bed, slipping into the skirt she had lay out the previous night before bed. She pulled a simple button up shirt onto her arms and fumbled clumsily with the buttons as she stepped out of her room, her socks resting on her shoulder so that she could slip them on when she finished buttoning her shirt. She did so as she made her way downstairs and was surprised to see that her parents were both in the kitchen, with her father sipping on some coffee and her mother washing the dishes.

"Good morning, Annabel," her father said neutrally. This had been his strategy since that drunken night. He was acting as if it had never happened. Satanichia's blood had begun to boil at the thought, but she couldn't get upset. That would be hypocritical, after all, since she had pretended to not notice the bruises on her mother's collarbone after that night.

"I left some breakfast on the table for you, if you're hungry," Amélie said softly. Satanichia felt a brief flicker of joy at her mother's small smile. She may have been disappointed in her mother for putting up with… Dougal, but she did still love the woman.

"Thanks, mom," she muttered as she grabbed the toast from the plate. She nibbled on it and made her way to the door, slipping her socks on with her free hand.

"Where are you going?" her – _Dougal_ asked.

"To school," she returned coldly. He stood from his chair, grabbing his jacket from the back of it.

"I'm driving you today," he said with an authority that Satanichia knew she shouldn't argue with, but she refused to bow to his authority blindly any more.

"I always walk," she stood her ground. She noticed Dougal's eyes widen for a brief moment in surprise, but she ignored it. She couldn't give in.

"You'll be late," he said, glancing at the clock then ordered, "so get in the car."

Satanichia knew he was right, but she couldn't give him this victory. She shook her head and turned around, before her mother's voice reached her.

"Please, Satanichia," the voice was soft. Her father – _Dougal! -_ probably couldn't even understand what her mother had called her. She sighed and grabbed her coat, stepping outside and walking towards her parents' car.

The first couple minutes of the drive were awkward, at best. Other than a few coughs, not a word was spoken. The silence was broken by Dougal.

"Annabel-," he began.

"No," she interrupted. She could tell her was irritated. His exhale was proof of that, but he complied.

"What?" he asked curiously.

"I'm not Annabel anymore," she said defiantly," I refuse that name."

She could see the shock in his face, even as he kept his eyes on the road. She could also see his jaws moving as his grit his teeth.

"That was your grandmother's name," he said in heavily contained anger. Years of throwing on his pretense of family pride and superiority, she knew that it was masking his insecurities and anger. She refused to cover her true self up anymore. Sure, she wasn't exactly sure who that was, but she would learn. All that she truly cared about was that she no longer pandered to his _perfect image_ of his _perfect daughter_ Annabel.

"It's also the name my abusive father gave me," she returned venomously. She hid her satisfaction as his hands tightened on the steering wheel. She was getting under his skin, and she was loving it. The bastard deserved it, after all.

"I'm trying to apologize," he forced out, clearly trying to restrain himself.

"…and I'm not accepting it," she said coolly.

His hands hit the steering wheel, and there was a loud thud at the impact. Those hands gripped it again, this time so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. Satanichia didn't react at all.

"You ungrateful brat! Do you know how much I _do_ for you?" he yelled in her direction, only briefly taking his eyes off the road. She crossed her arms defiantly, not even replying. She cursed her school for being just far enough away that she had to even have this conversation.

Even Dougal seemed to realize what he had said was too far, so both were quiet until they reached the school. Satanichia got out of the car without giving Dougal a goodbye and shut the door. She had made it a few minutes early, so she didn't have to rush into school.

She slipped, unnoticed, into the front door and rushed down the halls towards her locker. She reached inside and grabbed her textbook. She hadn't finished the previous night's homework, but she knew she didn't have time now. The best she could do was to read up on the chapter before class and hope that the teacher forgets to collect it.

He did not.

Ten minutes later, Satanichia found herself as the only student to not turn in _something_. She knew her grade was screwed from the situation, so all she could hope was that the teacher didn't bring attention to her.

"Ms. McDowell," the booming voice of her teacher silenced any normal talking amongst the class. Everyone in the room was intimidated by him, to the point that even the troublemakers refused to slack off in his class. She swallowed, dismayed by how dry her mouth suddenly felt. She was terrified.

"Y-yes sir?" she answered reluctantly.

The teacher's truly neutral stare landed on her. He was silent for just a moment and all the other students stared at her, some clearly stifling giggles.

"Where is your homework assignment?" he asked patiently, yet not kindly.

"I… didn't finish it," she said quietly, scared out of her mind.

"Oh?" he asked, adding, "Then I will take what you have finished."

"I didn't… didn't even start it. I'm s-sorry," she apologized, fighting the urge to cry under his intense stare. She tried to ignore all of the other eyes on her.

"Step outside, please," he instructed her. She quickly complied, knowing the tears were coming and wanting to escape the room before they did so that the other students wouldn't see. She slumped to the floor as she waited in the hallway. Tears were now falling freely, and it was all she could do not to openly sob.

She didn't know how long she was waiting when the other students began filing out of the classroom, but her weeping had stopped. There were mocking whispers of 'freak' and 'creepy girl' as the classmates walked by. She ignored them. The teacher walked out behind them and crouched down in front of her. His deep voice almost startled her, but it was already a pretty shitty day, so she rolled with it.

"Ms. McDowell," he said to get her attention.

She looked up.

"Yes, sir?" she asked dejectedly. Her negativity today wasn't just because of the shitty start her day had taken, but it was the culmination of an entire week of her fear of Dougal, her fury at the mistreatment of herself and her mother, and the rut that she felt she was trapped in. She was never particularly happy in her home or school life – that was why video games were essentially her life for all these years. However, lately she had begun to stoop to an even lower point due to the abuse, and she didn't know how to escape this turn her life had taken.

"Will this be a problem again?" he asked emotionlessly.

"N-no, sir," she answered automatically, before correcting herself, "Actually, I- I don't know."

She knew it wasn't an answer that would make her teacher happy, but she felt honesty would be best. It was certainly more respectful than outright lying, and her gut told her it would be the better path.

"I had some… trouble at home last week, and it's been hard to deal with," she explained hesitantly. He nodded at her admission.

"I see. Try to ensure that it doesn't happen again. Come with me and I'll write a note so your next teacher excuses you," he said, still betraying no emotion. Despite this, Satanichia gained a new level of respect for the man.

"T-thank you, sir," she responded in an almost-whisper.

That small act of kindness helped her get through the rest of the day.

The other students continued to bully her, sure, but she didn't care. She was completely used to it, and it wasn't like she had any friends here whose opinions she cared about. Other than being tripped a few times and having her lunch stolen, which was pretty common for Satanichia, her day was uneventful, and she was glad of it. However, she still dreaded the return home. She could at least walk home from school, so she was thankful for that diversion from the hell that awaited her. She knew that after a day of stewing in his anger, her father would not be a welcome sight.

She was right.

As soon as the door opened and she took a single step in, Dougal's voice greeted her.

"Sit down, Annabel," he ordered. He didn't sound angry anymore, but Satanichia knew better than to let her guard down. Her mother was sitting at the table beside Dougal, and she was pissed to see the new bruise on her mother's arm. Her mother probably thought she didn't notice such things, but she did. And it pissed her off. Still, her mother was there, so she complied. That didn't mean she had to say anything, though.

"We need to talk," he said with a cold stare. As with every other aspect of his presence, she ignored it.

Defiantly, she didn't answer him. She just crossed her arms and stared at him with a blank face. Her mother just looked down at her lap. It was a sign of submission and it pissed Satanichia off as well.

"What I did was wrong," he began, unbothered by her behavior, "and I apologize, but we _all_ need to move past this as a family."

Her own teeth were gritting in her anger at that statement, but her expression didn't betray it. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. What he did was _wrong?_ They needed to _move past this?_ He was speaking so frankly as if he hadn't thrown his daughter to the ground and choked her. As if he hadn't hit his own wife with a belt as a makeshift melee weapon. As if both of their bruises weren't still healing. Still, she weathered his words in silence.

"Your mother has forgiven me, so your own silence is childish and petty," he continued. Her fists clenched, and based on the shaking of her mother's shoulders, she imagined the woman was either crying or equally furious. She was _'childish_ ' and ' _petty_ ' for being pissed at her abusive father for drinking heavily and taking out his insecurities through violence directed at his family? The notion was absolutely ridiculous to her. He waited for a moment of silence as he stared at her expectantly.

He stood, supporting himself with his hands on the table and raising his own voice slightly.

"Are you going to say _anything!?"_ he shouted toward her. She was ashamed to have flinched just a bit, his violence still fresh on her mind. She shook her head and sat back in the kitchen chair.

"You're just like your mother at your age," he muttered," I never imagined you would be such a pathetic excuse for a McDowell."

That wasn't a particularly nasty thing to rile Satanichia up, but it must have been the straw that broke the camel's back, because at that she stood, knocking the chair back with the force of the action. She hated to see her mother startle just a bit as she rose, but she was focused on the bastard in front of her.

"A pathetic excuse for a McDowell!?" she shouted back, surprising even herself with the fire in her voice. He crossed his own arms to see what she had to say. She jabbed a finger into his chest and yelled, "What does that even mean!? You talk as if we're some big, noteworthy family!"

He started to respond, but she interrupted him.

"You act like I should be proud of my last name! Like I should carry myself like royalty!" she was letting her frustrations from all these years out, and it felt good. She continued, "But you were too fucking stupid to realize I've been putting on an act for all these years! I couldn't care less about your family, but I couldn't tell you that."

"Annabel-," he began, but she didn't even notice him speaking.

"A child shouldn't _have_ to put on an act for her own family," she said, just as heatedly, but softer. She was ignoring the tears that were beginning to trickle down her cheeks. After all, this was the first time her tears came from anger instead of sadness.

"And a father shouldn't _hit_ his own family," she growled out, "so why should I even consider forgiving you?"

"You're walking on thin ice, Annabel," her father said coldly.

"Why?" she challenged, "You act like you're some important person. Promotions, pay raises, and people bowing at your feet are only in your deepest fantasies. You don't even realize that you're just a pathetic asshole who peaked as a line worker at a bakery!"

Despite getting caught up in the argument, she barely finished it before the fist landed. She had been hit before, whether by bullies or by him, but this was the first time it had knocked her off of her feet. She landed on her back with a thud, and it hurt, but she ignored the pain. Her mother screamed, but she ignored the scream. More powerful than the pain or noise was her fury. She was beyond angry at this point. Maybe it was the adrenaline, but she was on her feet faster than she could possibly be capable of. He was staring at his own fist in shock, but she didn't even register the guilt and anger on his face. She just lunged.

She tackled him hard, but he was older and, to her annoyance, stronger. He staggered slightly from the contact before he recovered and his gaze hardened. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her to the ground. He walked up to her and towered over her. He glared at her with his own fury.

"Go to your room," he said quietly, like a whisper. When she rose to her feet and rose her chin in defiance, he shouted with his face inches from hers, "Now!"

Now that the adrenaline was fading, her jaw and lower back were beginning to throb. Her angry tears were still falling, and her jaw was still clenched. Her fists were tight and _begging_ her to throw a punch, but the sight of her mother crying openly in the distance sobered her up slightly. She turned and stormed up the stairs to her bedroom. She sat on her bed in silence, not even her thoughts were breaking the silence.

She was pissed. Beyond the pissed that involved fuming. She couldn't fume and she couldn't seethe. Those involved actively _thinking_ about what pissed one off. She could only exist in a shallow existence of anger and hatred. She didn't even notice the pain in her jaw or back, nor did she notice the bruises forming or the broken skin from his wedding ring.

She knew that wallowing in her anger was a terrible idea, so she took deep breaths and tried her best to calm her breathing and relax her tense muscles. She finally managed to calm down to the point that she could think and she decided to delve into her one escape. She had made a promise, after all.

Two minutes later, she clicked 'Login.'

Less than another minute later, she accepted the group invite.

"Nyahaha! How have you two angels fared without my awesome power!?"


	5. Grinding

**Sorry about the delay and issue guys! Doing this on my phone now, but should be better this time. TLDR: school happened, but I seriously do appreciate you guys reading this. I scrapped and rewrote this at least 4 times, but I like how it turned out. Enjoy!**

The angel and demon shouldn't logically be able to coexist. As strange as it was to say it, in a perfect world, the two would be mortal enemies right now. Instead, they found themselves as reluctant allies. Kindred spirits trying to survive in a world in which everything had, well, gone to hell. Sure, demons were supposed to betray and slaughter angels eventually, and angels were supposed to pray for the demons and try to purify their souls until the day when the forces of Hell would be forever banished, but in this situation, the angel clearly didn't consider the faerie-like demon to be a threat, and the contradictorily kindhearted demon didn't seem to have the drive to perform the evil deeds expected of her kind.

Plus, the team had to consider the situation and the betrayal against Satan by some of his most powerful lieutenants. Yes, working together was certainly the best policy.

To that end, the angel Gabriellia was training the demoness Vignetta. She couldn't literally train her, since she was not well versed in demonic magic, but she could heal the girl's wounds as they slaughtered the enemies before them to protect the nearby town.

The two were fighting once again in the ruins of the mortal realms, this time in a rural land. The land was full of faithful human survivors and Gabriellia had been glad to accept the role of protector that the townspeople had bestowed upon her.

The town had apparently been under attack nightly by waves of some rather mindless demonic forces - to be specific, simple, undirected souls of the damned. Since the souls had no physical forms, they only carried on with one purpose: to possess the mortals. Unluckily for them, however, they were particularly vulnerable to the dark soul-and-life-force-based magic of Vignetta, who was succeeding in draining the malevolent souls' life energy and using it to fuel her more demonic fiery spells upon the occasional actual physical construct.

She continued this routine as Gabriellia replenished her energy when she felt exhausted and healed any wounds that she suffered. Her power was growing steadily, and she had even begun to develop a manifestation of said power: two small demonic horns and an almost comically small set of bat-like wings.

"Nice. You're almost level ten," Gabriel said with a grin as she upturned a two-liter bottle of soda directly into her mouth, ignoring Vignette's disgusted expression and the glasses that were just on the other side of the small dorm room.

"Well, we did make a deal," Vignette hesitantly replied. She wasn't sure if she regretted said deal yet. She had seen her friend's lazy tendencies, sure, but this was approaching a whole new level.

The deal had been such that if Gabriel passed the university entrance exam with reasonable marks, Vignette would 'grind' with her (Gabriel had assured her that it wasn't a sexual term; it was actually a gaming term) until she caught up with both of them. Since the other two girls were quickly approaching their twenties in level, it would take a while, so Vignette was mentally prepared to experience the full power of Gabriel's affinity for all the virtues of a slob.

Still, she was proud of her friend, and at least the two could likely both be accepted to the same university.

"Yep," Gabriel chirped happily as she casted a few more healing spells.

"Say, Vigne," Gabriel casually began," why did you create a demon character, anyway? Judging by your personality, I'd say you're more suitable as an angel."

This gluttonous slob playing as an angel is asking me that? Vignette mused thoughtfully and with a small trace of amusement. Truthfully, she had opened the character screen, seen the template characters for the two races, and thought the demon was prettier. It was actually that simple. She didn't know how to explain that without being embarrassed, however, so she directed her thoughts towards Gabriel.

"Why is it that the slothful, gluttonous procrastinator would choose an angel?" she mused coyly with a smirk toward her friend.

"Rude.

"…also, good point."

"We should leave now," Vignette pointed out as she glanced at the clock. Gabriel has insisted that they wake up early for a head start on the leveling. Vignette was happy to go along with it. It meant the slacker couldn't sleep in and miss school or their university entrance exams.

Gabriel frowned, yawning and stretching. She looked at the clock on her laptop and sighed when she saw that it said 7:16.

"Yeah, sure."

She closed her laptop and slipped her hoodie on over her school uniform. She began digging around in her wardrobe until she found a suitable pair of socks and slipped them on, both at the same time. Vignette was already dressed and ready to leave, so she just watched her friend get ready to start the day. She had planned for this. It was why she had recommended leaving so early.

The cool Autumn air blew through both girls' hair and their faces reddened in the sudden temperature change. The students that were also traveling to class rushed from building to building to avoid the worst of the windy day, but Gabriel and Vignette didn't pay much heed to the weather. A dreary day didn't affect a shut-in like Gabriel that much, and Vignette was just happy that her friend was being responsible for once.

The walk to class passed quickly enough. The two girls were to attend two of their morning classes, at which point they would be excused to travel to the university to which they intended to apply. The bus ride to the university was expected to take about an hour, and their appointment for the examination was at 1:30 p.m., so they were giving themselves plenty of time. One could not be too careful when it came to university preparation.

The students in the classroom were chattering amongst one another, some fretting about deadlines and other fretting about their love lives. The school was a conservative Christian school that offered for its students to form and develop a relationship with Christ through study and showing love to one another. At least, that was what the website had said. Oh, sure, most of the students were at least somewhat devout, but the fact of the matter was that the school was a boarding school with low tuition. For parents that wanted their kids out of their hair, or just wanted their kids to learn some respect, it was basically Heaven on earth. Naturally, a good number of the students were either not devout or were full-blown atheists. Hell, Vignette herself was from a Satanist family. They had only sent her here because of the wonderful educational opportunities.

The teachers were really well-renowned throughout England. Most genuinely seemed to care for the students, and they knew the material very well. The academy itself only hired the best of the brightest teachers. The curriculum would prepare the students for their Advanced Level certification exams and most students would be well prepared for their entry into university. The only downside (Vignette considered it such, at least) was that students were required to study theology during the sixth form.

Thankfully, both girls had one year of sixth form finished, so they only had two more semesters until they could finally attend university.

The teacher of their Practical Theology class walked into the room and everyone made their way to their desks. Vignette snuck a glance over toward Gabriel and smiled. The girl was every bit the perfect angel she had been when the two had met. Her uniform was flawless, her hoodie was folded neatly and placed in a shelf under her desk, her notebook was ready for vigorous notetaking, and she had even brushed her hair when no one was looking.

That was Vignette's favorite thing about their Theology class this semester: Gabriel always gave her best effort and behaved like a perfect angel. She had not done so since before her gaming-based corruption, and she only did it for this class. Vignette had tried to find out why, but the younger girl had adamantly refused to talk about it, insulting something about Vignette and deflecting the question every time.

The only reason that she could possibly come up with was that Gabriel knew the teacher, but since she had vehemently denied such, Vignette had changed her guess to be that the blonde had a crush on the teach. After all, why would she clean up her act so much if she wasn't trying to impress someone? Besides, it would be more surprising if she didn't. Their teacher, Ms. Weiss, was absolutely gorgeous. Her eyes were the clearest shade of blue, her golden hair was wavy in the most elegant way, and her smile was firm, yet gentle. To be honest, if all followers of Christianity were as elegant and kind as Ms. Weiss, Vignette would have considered conversion years ago.

A meterstick smacked onto the teacher's desk and Ms. Weiss cleared her throat and waited for the students to hush down. She smiled at the class from her spot in front of the old-fashioned blackboard. She grabbed a piece of chalk and began to write:

'Philippians 2:4

1 John 13:34

Ephesians 4:32

1 Peter 3:8'

"Hello, class," she said with her beautifully symmetrical smile. The entire class, with no exceptions, echoed a greeting back to Ms. Weiss, and Vignette's heart beat faster at the sound of doll-Gab – that was what she called her friend when she put on this act, and it was also what she used to refer to the girl when they had first met – excitedly greeting the teacher with a bright smile.

After a brief rollcall, the lecture began. It was a lecture all about loving others and reaching out to those that need such love. This was one of the aspects of the class that Vignette could appreciate. She was all for loving others. It was far superior to the days that they studied the duller aspects of theological texts. The students all took turns standing up and talking about a way that they'd reached out and 'shared God's love with another.' Gabriel had even taken it seriously, standing and passionately telling about how she had reached out to a girl with no one else to turn to and befriended her. It was clear that she was referring to Satanichia, and while it seemed that she was overexaggerating a bit, for the most part her story was accurate. She didn't mention anything about the video game. She had just vaguely said that Satanichia had been alone one day when Gabriel had approached her. It was probably some kind of boss fight, Vignette mused. Either way, it was certainly heartwarming, because the affection was clearly real. Even Ms. Weiss seemed amazed at the act of kindness, her smile reaching her eyes as they glimmered in joy.

The class was staring at Gabriel in amazement, and Vignette couldn't blame her. Gabriel showing emotion and caring about things was a beautiful sight.

"Very good, Ms. White," Ms. Weiss said with a smile and a nod, her hands clasped in front of her. She was clearly just as happy for the girl as Vignette was. Gabriel beamed at the compliment, blushing furiously.

The rest of class passed without incident, and before the girls knew it they were on a bus to the university. It was about 11:37 a.m., and they were well on the way to being early for their examination, so perhaps a tour would be in order? The bus driver seemed to have some kind of fetish for bumpy roads, but it didn't really bother the two as much as it disturbed the more vocal passengers. The driver kept driving through the city until it reached the city limits. It was going to be a fairly long drive to the neighboring college city, but the girls were prepared. Vignette pulled a book from her satchel and tried to get in some reading, and Gabriel put in some earphones and began to listen to music as she pulled a portable gaming system from her pocket. The two quickly settled into a system: The gamer friend would play her game while her head rested on Vignette's shoulder – Vignette had blushed at first, but she had quickly grown used to it. Physical contact with Gabriel was still fairly rare despite their years as friends – while she just rested her own head on the window of the bus and read one of the random fiction novels from her collection at her dorm.

The bus stopped quite a bit more often than they had expected, and they arrived at the university's Admissions office at about 12:18 p.m. The two wandered around campus, finding the Computer Sciences building and the Medical Sciences building to kill the time. They stopped by the cafeteria to buy a few cups of hot cocoa and were surprised that it was only 12:45 when they made their way back to the Admissions office. A few students that were also overly early were sitting on the benches outside of the room labelled 'Testing Center,' but for the most part the benches were empty. For such a prestigious university, a surprisingly low number of prospective students had arrived early.

The two girls had settled back into their bus ride routine on a nearby bench. Vignette noticed that they almost looked like a couple, and she blushed slightly, but she got over it. Gabriel was being good today, and she didn't want to rock the boat. After half an hour, a few more people had showed up, but not a whole lot.

Finally, the doors to the testing center opened and a short woman with a clearly artificial smile exited the room, propping the double doors open with a wooden block. She was wearing khaki pants and a pastel pink button-up shirt, and her smile was too cheery to be anything but fake. It was as if someone was trying to impersonate the mother from The Brady Bunch but without the older woman look, because the girl couldn't have been a day older than twenty-one. Her brown hair was in a perfectly tight, neat bun and she wore a simple pair of plastic thick-framed glasses, but she made the look work.

"Hey, guys!" she called out to the people sitting in the halls. The people – somewhere between a dozen and twenty people – filed into the room and Gab packed away her portable gaming console and stood. She stared at Vignette expectantly, but the girl didn't rise.

She looked up from her book, blushed, and sheepishly explained, "Oh! S-sorry, Gab. I already took the exam last month. I only came to make sure you actually showed up."

She winced at the annoyed expression on her friend's face and knew that she would regret her actions later. Still, instead of saying anything, Gabriel filed into the room behind the others, giving a last, frustrated look to her friend as the test proctor closed the door behind her and smiled at Vignette.

Vignette smiled at her relative success in getting the girl to take her exam and settled back into her book. It was a pretty interesting book about an angel and demon falling in love. The game she was playing with Gabriel had pushed the interest into the forefront of her mind, so she had rummaged through her books until she found this one.

The door opening gave Vignette pause, and when a figure stood awkwardly next to her without saying a word, she placed her bookmark and closed the book, looking up questioningly.

"Um, hello," she greeted the proctor, before smiling and saying, "Oh! I'm not here for the test."

"I know," the proctor – her name badge said Amy – mumbled with a terrified look on her face. If Vignette had to guess, she would assume it was the girl's first time proctoring an exam and she was super nervous, but the level of her fear was on par with some of Gabriel's antics. She pitied poor Amy.

"So how can I help you?" Vignette asked with a smile that she hoped would cheer the girl up. The girl visibly calmed, but she still seemed tense.

"Well," Amy began, "are you Vignette Sukinosa?"

Vignette almost giggled at the butchering of her last name. With a grin, she corrected, "Tsukinose," and looked at Amy expectantly.

"Oh!" the brunette seemed relieved, explaining, "Your friend needs you."

"Gabriel?" she asked, despite already knowing the answer.

"Yes," Amy confirmed, "She said that she thought she could handle it, but she needs her translator."

Amy looked around to see who could be listening.

"Between us, her accent was really thick, and she struggled to tell me that much," she clarified.

Vignette sighed. She knew Gabriel was lazy and didn't care much for education or protocol, but this was probably the most elaborate attempt at cheating Vignette had seen from the girl. Her instinct was to immediately explain the situation to Amy and apologize, but she paused.

If that happened, would they still be able to attend university together? She often joked about finding new friends, but truthfully, Gabriel was her best friend and she'd hate to lose her like that. So she had the choice to either play along and help her friend, ensuring that she passed the exam, or allowing her friend to be caught in her lie and possibly jeopardizing the girl's chance of a postsecondary education. Honestly, even if she did try to out the girl like that, she knew that it would likely fail. Gabriel could bluff and lie her way out of anything.

"Erm, okay," Vignette nodded and followed the clearly relieved girl. It was clearly against protocol for her to be there with Gabriel for the test, but Amy was probably so new at this that she didn't know what else to do. This could be some kind of volunteer project required for her as a student of the university. Vignette felt bad, but she couldn't risk not seeing Gabriel again after graduation.

They walked into the room and a few eyes looked up from their tests towards the newcomer. Each student was at a desk with a wooden panel on either side that blocked any prying eyes, and the tests were old-fashioned paper and pencil type tests. A simple graphic calculator was provided to each students in addition to two classic wooden pencils. Amy and Vignette reached Gabriel, who smiled broadly at her friend. It was her doll-smile, and Vignette even found herself fooled by the girl briefly. She was strongly tempted to just pull the girl into a hug and snuggle her. It was adorable.

"Could you tell her we can give her some more time to make up for this interruption?" Amy whispered happily.

"Uh, sure," Vignette agreed, fearfully trying to remember the German she had learned briefly in school a few years ago.

"Erm, Das tut ihr leid. Du kannst mehr Zeit haben," she said clearly but softly, so as not to disturb the other students in the room. Amy nodded and smiled, whispering a thanks and walking back to her spot at the proctor's desk and Gabriel was obviously trying not to laugh at the butchered German.

"Vielen Dank," Gabriel whispered with a sly smirk.

The rest of the test was possibly the most terrifying hour of Vignette's entire educational existence. Gabriel literally spoke German to her as she had to struggle to try and remember two semesters of basic German in the most elaborate form of cheating imaginable. Vignette felt horrible for doing so, and it left a bad taste in her mouth, but she had already dug too deep to get out now. The test was finally over and the two wandered out to the hall. Gabriel stopped and doll-smiled at Amy, loudly saying, "Many Sanks. Mine Englisch ist not yetzt goot."

Vignette winced at the overwhelming show of broken English and knew somewhere deep down that if Gabriel hadn't taken this exam and likely scored highly enough to be accepted, she could be a mastermind criminal. She had seen Gabriel use the German-who-can't-speak-English card a few times, but never for anything this big. It was terrifying how convincing the girl could be.

The bus ride home was mostly silent, because Vignette couldn't think of what to say. She knew what she had just done was wrong, but she didn't know how to feel about it. She didn't feel as guilty as she felt she should. Sure, she had just helped her friend cheat on a university entrance exam, but it wasn't as if Gabriel didn't know most of the answers already. Part of Vignette thought that the whole thing was a revenge plot on her for lying to the girl to manipulate her into riding along and taking the test. It would certainly be something she could see Gabriel doing, if she weren't so lazy.

"Hey," Gabriel mumbled, looking away. That pulled Vignette's attention away from the book that she wasn't even reading, since she was lost in her thoughts.

"Yeah?" Vignette responded. She was trying to look the other girl in the eyes, but it wasn't working because of Gabriel's strange aversion to eye contact.

"I'm, uh, I'm sorry for that," she said so quietly that Vignette almost couldn't hear it. An apology from Gabriel was a pretty rare thing. The girl seemed to actually mean it, too, so Vignette was at a loss for words. It didn't really matter, though, because Gabriel kept speaking, "I know it was wrong, but I also know you really want to go to the same uni, so I wanted to make sure I passed…"

Vignette's heart swelled at the admission from the other girl. Gabriel didn't get "touchy feely" that often, if at all. It was a beautiful show of how much the girl really did cherish their friendship. Vignette pulled her friend into a tight hug and both girls were blushing, but she didn't care. She refused to let go.

"It's okay, Gab," she cooed, "But it seemed as if you actually knew most of the answers."

"I- I did, but I didn't want to chance it," Gabriel returned, "can you let go of me? I'm on a boss fight."

Vignette complied, but the smile didn't leave her face. She closed her book and rested her head against the gamer's head, watching her fight a boss on her handheld console. The rest of the trip was peaceful.

The bus dropped them off right at the dorm building. It was still early – only 4:08 p.m., or 16:08 as the clock above the dorm door broadcasted. Students were hanging out outside on benches with steaming cups of various hot beverages. Most were dressed in medium to thick jackets and coats. Even in the cold, companionship can warm the heart, Vignette mused.

The girl's walked into Gabriel's room and Vignette prepared to honor her promise to Gabriel, plugging her laptop in on the outlet by the small table. She booted up the laptop and opened the game as she began to change out of her uniform and into some comfortable shorts and a t-shirt in Gabriel's heated room. She looked up to see that Gabriel had already done the same in half the time as her, and she was now lying on her belly on her bed, wearing nothing but underwear and a t-shirt, with a two-liter soda on the pillow next to her and her laptop already on the character select screen.

"Wow, that was fast," Vignette said with awe as Gabriel stared at her, rushing her with her eyes.

"Yep. Hurry, please," Gab said with her focused "gamer-voice" as Vignette referred to it.

A sudden alert chimed on both laptops, echoing slightly in the room between the two devices. Vignette grabbed a juice from the fridge, then sat down at the table, slipping her headset on, and her character ran over to Gab when an alert flashed across the screen.

Archdemon003 has joined the party!

"Nyahaha! How have you two angels fared without my awesome power!?"

The overwhelmingly loud voice of Satanichia rang through both girls' headsets.

"Actually, I'm a demon," Vignette argued, but she couldn't really be heard over the cackling of the boisterous girl.

"My minion must earn the right to be called a demon," countered Satanichia smugly.

Vignette shook her head and facepalmed. Having taken enough university-level psychology classes that her first two semesters of university would already be significantly easier and filled with mostly General Education, she had quite a penchant for analyzing the human psyche. Because of this, she still heavily suspected that the other girl was the type to be bullied in real life and thus search for any form of control she can get, specifically through gaming. She would be happy to indulge the other girl. Especially since she had a long day of 'grinding' ahead of her.

But something seemed off about Satanichia that night. Vignette didn't know how to place it, and she hadn't known the girl very long, but there was something about the way she was speaking. Her mannerisms were different than normal. She couldn't quite tell if Gabriel had noticed, because the girl was wearing her usual poker face.

"Right, Master," she returned sarcastically," now help us out. It'll be faster with three of us."

"Ooh, you're almost level ten! You even have some cute little devil horns," Satanichia cooed at Vignette.

"We've been grinding for like an hour," explained Gabriel," She's picking up pretty quick. With my help, her DPS has doubled. Soon, we can officially form our guild."

Vignette sipped from the glass of juice beside her, humming silently as she continued casting her soul drain spell on the enemies. It was infinitely easier now that the group had a tank, and the grinding quickly became a mindless chore.

Other than the small talk as they fought waves of enemies, it was uneventful. However, Vignette did learn quite a bit about Satanichia. As it turned out, she was homeschooled for most of her life. That explained the social awkwardness of the other girl. After about seven hours of mindless combat – Poor Gabriel and Satanichia weren't even gaining experience points because they outleveled these enemies – Vignette could proudly say she had a level fifteen character. She was still a bit behind the other two, but she could probably keep up with them in the higher-level areas of the open world. Perhaps they would even be able to handle that boss that had slaughtered them when they attempted to get the relic for Gabriel.

"Okay, I think it's time to log for the night," Vignette said with a yawn, "For me, at least."

Gabriel frowned, but sighed, "Yeah, I guess it is. It was a long day."

Satanichia sounded almost frantic and vulnerable with her reply, "A-are you sure you two can't stay a bit longer?"

The girl quickly corrected herself and added, "After all, my minions must prove their strength in glorious combat! They serve no bedtime."

Her exclamation wasn't quite as boisterous as normal, however. To be honest, it worried Vignette slightly. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about it. It was almost midnight, and both girls had a test the following morning, so they needed sleep. Gabriel had probably only agreed with Vignette because the test was in Practical Theology. Vignette decided to break it to Satanichia gently.

"Sorry, Satanichia. We have another busy day tomorrow," she said disappointedly.

"Okay, s-sorry. I didn't want to be a burden," Satanichia mumbled into the headset. Gabriel and Vignette shared a confused look at the peculiar behavior of their friend. Before either could respond, though, Satanichia had seemingly perked back up, "Then I supposed I should give my minions a break! Rest well, my servants, for tomorrow we shall fight until the light of dawn!"

Archdemon003 has logged off.

"That was strange," Gabriel mused, "do you think something happened?"

Vignette was amazed that the girl seemed genuinely concerned. Her face was actually showing the worry.

"I don't know," Vignette admitted, "but we can talk to her about it tomorrow."

"Yeah," Gabriel smiled a bit, "we can."

She smiled wickedly, "Gute Nacht."

Vignette sighed before turning off the lamp on the desk. She crawled into the bed with her friend and smiled back in amusement, "Night, Gab."


	6. Game Over

**Hey, guys!. I enjoyed writing this a whole lot. Some of it was kinda "ugh!" to write, but it made my heart a little lighter. I want to clarify that I speak no French. I'm fluent in Google Translate, so if I need to use French I'll probably be going that route. Just an apology ahead of time. Thanks guys! Enjoy!**

Satanichia smirked as the endless souls surrounding her gained corporeal form and began to assault her physically. Up until that moment, the foolish souls – really more manifestations of instinct than actual souls – had been attempting possession of all those nearby. Gabriellia was immune to such charms because her very being was blessed by God and could not be controlled by one as impure as these wretched creatures. Additionally, Vignetta was a fairly weak demon, so Satanichia was essentially a beacon of power for the spirits. Unfortunately for them, she was quite the powerful demon. Unable to be possessed so easily, the creatures followed their instincts, which told them that her corpse would be much easier to possess.

That was their second mistake. To actually _kill_ the demon, the ghosts – if that was even the correct term – would need to take physical form and attack her. In theory, because of the sheer number of the monsters, they should have been able to overwhelm her easily. However, she was well trained in dark magics that would allow her to shrug off any wounds they could possibly inflict on her.

Beyond that, her ally – the angel – could heal any wounds that they _did_ manage to force onto her.

Further cementing their impending doom, the creatures were exceedingly weak. The only physical manifestation that they were capable of was a weakened form that looked only vaguely human. They had all the limbs of humans, sure, but they lacked skin and basic facial features. Their muscles were falling off of the malformed bones even as they walked. That was why they wanted to possess actual humans in the first place.

If they were creatures with any level of intelligence, they would have recognized the lost cause and fled long ago, but they didn't. So now Satanichia laughed almost girlishly as her burning blade sunk into husk after husk of weak flesh. The souls fled from the eyes of the flesh constructs and she knew well that they were going to suffer for an eternity as she cast them into the deepest pits of Hell.

Those that didn't take corporeal form fell to the onslaught of Vignetta's terrible, twisted magic. If Satanichia's magic cast the souls into damnation, then Vignetta's own did something far more terrible. It twisted the lost souls – which _were_ once human – into abominations of their former selves before sacrificing their very essence to fuel additional spells in her repertoire. She had truly begun to come into her own as a demon and her power was growing.

The three continued their battle in the face of a near endless army of the foul monsters. Satanichia's blade sang as the obsidian slashed bone and charred flesh with its burning enchantment. The blood and viscera of her enemies covered her body, making her exposed skin – her armor was admittedly more revealing than was practical – appear more green than darkened. There was more blood splashing across her face than there was sweat dripping from her pores.

Despite such conditions, however, the demoness was ready for more. She could fight like this forever. These bastards had betrayed the true lord of Hell, and as the future Queen of Hell, she couldn't stand for that. She was prepared physically _and_ mentally to continue the battle well into the night.

Plans are often fickle things.

Her angelic companion and demonic apprentice were quickly becoming fatigued, and it was clear that they required rest. The three allies caught their breath in a respite from the carnage, and the apprentice – a pathetic excuse for a demon despite her own advancement in power – recommended sleep. Gabriellia reluctantly agreed.

Satanichia sighed and nodded her consent for the group to make camp for the night. She volunteered for first watch, hoping that she would get to see some more action before dawn.

She could still hear the yelling. Her mother was pissed beyond what she had _ever_ shown before. Satanichia should have been happy that her mother was standing up for her (as best as she could, at least) but she was actually more worried for the woman. After all, what was stopping that fucker Dougal from laying a hand on her if she angered him too? Unfortunately, there was nothing Satanichia could really do. She was already sporting a massive bruise on her jaw, and she currently couldn't even open her mouth beyond speaking without a lot of pain. Not to mention her (slightly healing) bruise on her neck and the likely bruise forming on her back from her landing after the asshole's punch.

What she would give to be able to inflict _some_ form of pain on him. She wanted him to suffer for this. Her only consolation was that she knew for a fact he hadn't harmed Ethan. She may not have been close to her brother, being able to count the words she had spoken to him in the past week on one hand, but she _did_ care about him, and if she ever found out he had hurt Ethan, she _would_ find a way to get revenge. Her character in the MMORPG would pale in comparison to her fury and acts of violence.

Her door was locked, so she was currently shirtless with a heating pad that her mother had brought her soothing her throbbing back. She was holding a cold bottle of water against her jaw and she was beginning to feel the pain subside, but now that her friends were offline, she had nothing to distract her, so she could just fume over the frustration and helplessness that had taken over her life as of late.

It wasn't that she was stuck in the house for her entire life, but instead that she felt like a badminton birdie being knocked around with no say so in the direction. Her dad was one racket, and her mother was the other. She definitely appreciated everything her mother did for her, but she just wanted _some_ control over her own life. That wasn't too much to ask for.

Now, without her mother even _asking_ her, it had been decided that she would be moving in with her creepy, sadistic cousin and her super Christian aunt and uncle. They were extremely nice, and, for whatever reason, were very fond of her, despite her having been raised in a Satanist household. It was almost awkward when she was actually over there, because they doted all over her. Well, except for her cousin, Raphael, named after the Archangel associated with healing in the Abrahamic faiths. If the actual Archangel _had_ existed, Satanichia imagined it to be more similar to her friend's character in the MMORPG they played together, but her actual cousin – nicknamed Raphi – was probably the polar opposite of the biblical healer. She seemed to find every ounce of her entertainment in the pranks and emotional torture of Satanichia.

The only bright side of the upcoming move was that she would be able to start over at a brand new school with a fresh start. She wouldn't have to be that weird quiet kid anymore. She could be whomever she wanted. She could be a preppy girl that was good at all things science (she already made high marks in her Chemistry and Biology courses), or she could be an artsy student that took classes in various painting related courses. She could even become one of the popular girls at her new school. Didn't schools usually welcome new students as something exotic? _Well, my school didn't when I stopped being homeschooled,_ Satanichia thought, sobering up slightly. She supposed she'd just have to do everything she could to fly under the radar at her new school. Unfortunately, that would likely include reclaiming her accursed given name, but perhaps it would be worth it? Maybe she would make friends beyond the one (two?) friend she had made on a video game.

She crawled into her bed and rolled onto her belly to avoid putting pressure on her already sore back. She decided she could figure everything out when she got there. Overthinking things was her problem now, and if she kept it up, she would end up in the same situation, minus the abusive father.

Her mind froze. She had known for hours that she was moving away – her mother had told her in the midst of her gaming session – and she had thought about her new school, living with her cousin, and the new things she would gain, but she hadn't thought about what she was leaving behind.

Sure, she would be leaving behind that man that could accurately be called a cancer upon the human race, but she would also be leaving behind her brother and her mom. Would that be worth it? Her mom was honestly the only person that had managed to keep her going in the past several days. Sure, she hadn't been able to _do_ anything, but she was there. Even today, when she wasn't yelling at Dougal, she was making _some_ attempt to comfort Satanichia. Hell, she had probably spent at least four total hours throughout the day just watching her daughter play her video game and not even interrupting to ask how she was. She understood that that wasn't what Satanichia needed, and she was just _there._ How could Satanichia possibly leave her mom with that asshole?

 _Knock. Knock. Knock-Knock. Knock._

Satanichia perked her head up at the childish knock. She rose out of bed, a little too quickly, and winced at the pain shooting through her back. She sucked in a burst of air and walked to the door. She unlocked it and opened it, expecting her mom, but she was surprised to see Ethan.

"Hey, sis," he said with a smile. He had one hand behind his head as if he was nervous. The poor bugger probably didn't know what to say. She definitely felt some pity for the boy.

"Hey, Eth'," she said with a smile, trying to hide the discomfort. She knew that he probably knew what had happened based on their parents' fighting, but she told herself that he didn't. It was a small comfort, but it helped. He was staring straight into her eyes, and his smile didn't seem very genuine. It seemed forced, tense. Satanichia tilted her head, asking, "What's up?"

He didn't say anything, but just walked right into her room, sitting on her bed. Just like he used to when they were closer. She, very confused, sat down right next to him. The two were in something of a staring contest, but it wasn't a game of any kind. They just didn't know what to say. Slowly, he lifted his hand, led by his index finger, toward her jawline. She now realized that he probably saw the bruise. His fingers only lightly brushed it, but she still couldn't stop the wince. She could see him grit his teeth.

"Was this the first time?" he asked in a whisper. She could see his eyes watering, and she knew he was close to crying. He had always been very no-nonsense, and he had never put up with their father's bullshit. For whatever reason, by some fluke of nature, their father had never been bothered by this. He had always seen it as a sign of his son's confidence and success as a McDowell. Or something. Satanichia had long ago given up trying to understand his sick logic.

She thought of lying. She could easily just tell him it was, and he wouldn't feel so bad, but she knew that she respected him too much for that. All those years and he had never once wimped out and put on a mask for their father. She was a little jealous, but she _did_ respect him.

"No," she whispered, and a tear fell from her left eye. The tear stung at the open skin at her jaw, but she ignored it. More tears followed suit.

"When did it start?" he asked in a growl.

"W-when I was eight," she said in a whimper, "then he stopped when I was thirteen until a few days ago."

Earlier she had felt nothing but unrestrained fury, but now that had died, and the heat of her anger had cooled. She was just sad at this point. Sad that her life had reached this point and sad that she would soon be losing her brother and mom. She was hardly even aware of her brother clenching his fists.

"That bastard," her brother muttered. She didn't even try to correct his language, as she would have done normally. They were beyond that. Before she could stop him, he leaned into a gentle hug, carefully avoiding her bruises. He whispered, "I know you're leaving tomorrow, but I just wanted to tell you I love you, sis."

Her heart broke at that moment. She didn't want to leave her brother. She didn't want to leave her mom. She just wanted Dougal to leave. She ignored her own pain and returned the hug to her brother, pulling him into a tight death grip. She sobbed openly now (thought silent enough to avoid alerting her mom and the asshole) as he comforted her.

"I l-love you too, Eth'," she whimpered through tears. The two continued to hold hands even after they fell apart. It wasn't creepy levels of handholding. It was just the love shared between two siblings that wanted the best for each other. After a few minutes of this, Ethan stood up to leave.

"If you need anything-," he began.

"…I'll call. I promise," Satanichia said through sniffles as her tears stopped, "Good night, Eth'."

"Good night, sis," he said as he leaned in and kissed her cheek. As he exited the room, he turned around with a cheeky smile and muttered, "Next time, you might want to wear a shirt when you answer the door."

Satanichia looked down to see her purple bra and blushed furiously. She closed the door quickly and quietly and ignored her brother's laughter as he made his way down the hall to his own room. She crawled into bed and sleep came easily to her.

...

"I love you so, so much."

"I love you, too," Satanichia returned.

Her mom had made sure to wake Satanichia early enough that they could leave the house before Dougal woke. He didn't know of the plan to send her away, and both of them knew that he would not approve. Thus, it was about four in the morning when the two woke up and made their way to the car with her luggage that her mom had packed for her while she gamed. She hadn't been able to bring her gaming desktop, but her mom promised she would have it mailed to her new address. She had her old gaming laptop in the meantime, and she was confident that it could run her MMO. She had made sure to pack a mouse and her headset and mic.

The only downside to being so early was that she was about five hours early for her flight. The two got some breakfast and both tried hard to avoid any heavy subjects so that they wouldn't cry in such a public place. There was a lot of awkward silence. Now she was still a few hours early for her flight, but the two had made it to the airport proper and were waiting right next to the security gate. She was playing on her phone and her mom was sitting there trying not to stare at the bruise on her jaw.

She was to catch the flight and she would be in her new home pretty quickly. She expected to arrive in England by eleven thirty, at which point she would take a bus to her new town. After a few hours to unpack and settle in with her aunt Lucille and her uncle Gerard[TQ1] , she would go to her new school, where a faculty member would be giving her a tour. Apparently, they were taking special precautions because of her situation. After the personal tour of the school, she would go "home." Since it was Thursday, she wouldn't even start school until the following Monday.

To avoid her cousin as much as possible, and to feel like less of a burden on Lucille and Gerard, she decided she would use that time to find a part time job. Even if they refused to let her help financially, she could at least earn some spending money and get out of the house for a while. After all, she wanted a new beginning, right?

When the time of her flight began to approach, her mom couldn't fight the tears anymore. Neither could she, to be honest. Both women cried like newborns, despite being in public. They held each other through the sobs, and neither felt any kind of shame. Through sniffles, her mother spoke, "Call me when you arrive in England, please."

"I will, maman, I promise," Satanichia whispered using the French term of endearment for "mom." She was about to live with a French-speaking family, so she figured she may as well get used to it. She stood in line and made her way through security, giving her mom one last wave before she left. Whether this was a beginning or an end, it was now too late to turn back.

 **ㅜ_ㅜ ㅇ_ㅇ** **ㅜ_ㅜ**

Gabriel dragged her feet along the sidewalk. In front of her, Vignette slowed her pace so the other girl would not be left behind. The girl seemed to be awfully down since the previous night of gaming. Something had been off about their friend all night, but it had reached its peak when they were logging off for the night. Neither girl really knew what was going on or how to deal with it, so they were just going about another normal day at school. That didn't change the fact that it just didn't feel _right._

Even Gabriel, who was normally so carefree and relaxed – the word lazy came to mind – was down in the dumps. Sure, the girl wasn't usually sunshine and rainbows, but at most Vignette could normally expect mild annoyance from her, not this thoughtful somberness.

The girls kept walking to their classroom, hands in their pockets to keep warm from the chilly wind. The warmth of the school was welcome, but that perverse feeling of _wrongness_ was still there. The two silently sat in the seats when they reached the classroom of Ms. Weiss, and no one really bothered them. The mood was read pretty easily. Even Gabriel, hailed as adorable by most other students, was left alone.

Ms. Weiss silently entered the room fifteen minutes before class started. The students quieted down quite a bit, but some kept talking. After all, class hadn't begun yet. Gabriel rested her head on her desk and Vignette pitied the poor girl.

"I'm sure it's nothing _too_ serious," she whispered to Gabriel. She couldn't _actually_ be sure of that, but she wanted to comfort her friend. Gabriel glanced over at her without even turning her head and sighed. She knew it wouldn't be easy, but she wanted to do something to cheer the girl up.

"I know, it's just, she's my tank, you know?" Gabriel said rhetorically. When she realized that Vignette was confused, she explained, "A tank and healer have a unique bond. It's beyond that between normal, useless people."

Vignette was almost amused at Gabriel's explanation, but then she realized just how seriously Gabriel was taking it. To mix emotions and her gaming while at school, the girl was clearly hit hard. While Vignette couldn't deny her jealousy of the blonde's attachment to their online friend, she could feel the girl's pain as if it was a physical thing, pressing down on her. She couldn't stand seeing her friend like this. Before she could respond, Ms. Weiss was standing between the two desks and looking at Gabriel with concern.

"Is everything okay, Ms. White?" she asked firmly, yet kindly.

"Yes, Ms. Weiss," Gabriel said, trying to throw on her doll-Gab personality, but her heart just wasn't in it. The teacher seemed to take pity and her look softened.

"I understand you're going through something and it's none of my business," she began carefully, "but if you're up for it, I need to speak with you on something unrelated."

Vignette and Gabriel shared a look.

"…in private," she added.

Gabriel nodded and stood from her desk, following Ms. Weiss into the hall. Vignette wasn't the only one that noticed. She could hear the beginnings of the rumor mill. Gabriel was in trouble. Gabriel was getting some kind of commendation for academic achievement. Gabriel was having a relationship with the teacher. The teacher was secretly Gabriel's mother. Each rumor was more and more laughable to Vignette, who knew the girl better than most of the other students that only saw her during her doll-Gab act.

The two were outside for at least four or five minutes before they came back into the classroom. The students that hadn't arrived yet were now at their desks and there were about four minutes until class.

"Is everything alright?" Vignette asked hesitantly. She didn't know why Gab changed so much around Ms. Weiss, but she knew there was something up with the girl when it came to their Theology teacher. A speaking-to in the hallway before class could either be a great sign or a terrible sign. In fact, the more Vignette thought about it, the more those rumors started to make more sense. She could at least understand _why_ the other students would believe them.

Gabriel's mind seemed to be somewhere else completely when she answered, almost in an afterthought, "Yeah, it's fine. Uh, something about a new student next week. Ms. Weiss wants me to show her around, for some reason."

"Oh! That sounds fun, right? Is that all?" Vignette asked. She really didn't know how to feel about this. Her friend was outside for almost five minutes and that was all they had spoken about? The theory about the affair between Gabriel and the teacher was beginning to look a lot more realistic.

"Uh, yep," Gabriel answered, staring at the pencil in her own hand. She seemed distracted, but that wasn't so bad. Whatever was distracting her had pulled her out of the negative stupor she had been in all day. Even so, Vignette didn't believe her for a minute, but she didn't have any reason to call the other girl out. If there was something Gabriel didn't feel comfortable talking about, she would respect that. _That's what friends do, right?_

Besides, maybe Vignette was just overthinking things. She did that quite often, after all. Maybe it _was_ just about a new student. She couldn't for the life of her figure out why a new student would have affected Gabriel so much, but she would probably find out when the student arrived. So, she dropped it. After all, this student didn't really matter much to her anyway, as cold as that seemed. She would leave this new student to Gabriel and offer her counsel – or even just an ear to listen – if her friend needed it, but she had more important things to worry about than a new student. Namely, Satanichia.

She would just have to trust that Gabriel would handle this new student with tact and grace. Of course, it was never that easy.


	7. New Game Plus

**Hey guys! I know it's been really soon since the last chapter, but since I cut it off short (I didn't want to have an eight-thousand-word chapter) I figured it would be fine to post this one now. But just in case, I'm letting you know that I did post a chapter on Saturday, so if you didn't read it, you'll probably be a bit lost on this one. This is one that I've wanted to write for a while, and even though I had to make some changes from my original ideas for this chapter, I really enjoyed writing it nonetheless. I hope you guys enjoy!**

Ash scattered into the wind with each footstep into the once-charred wasteland. The temperature was so far below freezing that even mortal blood would be frozen solid within seconds of the exposure of flesh in this place.

It was a common misconception that Hell was nothing but a burning inferno of unholy flame and corruption, but truth be told, there were realms within the underworld that were cold enough to put the coldest wastelands of the mortal planes to shame. Usually these places were host to very powerful demons: demons so powerful that the burning within their corrupt blood overwhelmed even them. As not-demonic as it sounded, the cold, frigid air soothed such powerful demons.

Usually such demons were the only ones who would dare step foot into such an unforgiving place, especially willingly. Of course, there were those who were brave – or foolish – enough to test their luck in these icy expanses. Satanichia counted herself among that group.

There was a demon that stalked these frozen halls: a very specific demon who could supposedly shrug off any attack due to the thickness of his demonic skin. His secrets were inscribed into a desecrated tome crafted of human flesh and with pages of similarly made parchment. She knew that should she find him, he would not give up his secrets, so she had it in her mind to slay the beast and steal his tome for herself.

The ground she walked on told stories of battles long since fought – probably against the demon himself. Scorched ground was spread for many meters in every direction and no snow was able to last upon contact with the ground in these places, despite the ever-present cold. Bones littered the ground, but most were fractured to the point that they could hardly be considered bones and were actually more appropriately called a bone dust. What solid mass was left of the bones crunched under her greave-covered feet.

Even in her revealing armor, Satanichia didn't shiver. Her power had grown much recently as well, and her blood boiled hotter than most demons. Yet still she needed more power. Traitorous demons stalked her at every turn, and the demon she hunted on this day was quite possibly allied with the treacherous bastards.

"You step into lands that are not yours to explore," a booming voice called from behind her.

She turned her head and casually approached the figure. His torso was broad, and he stood about four heads higher than her. If her skin was pocked with demonic energy and charred black, his own skin almost resembled burning stone. It would take a master of observation to even consider that his flesh _could_ be flesh. His left hand was empty, but his right hand wielded a handle with a blade that traced along the back of his arm. The blade itself was about seven or eight feet long and it was jagged from many millennia of battles, but it still held firm. An unholy blue flame burned along the blade.

Her trademark smirk was nowhere to be found. This demon was quite possibly beyond even her, so she was planning on taking this fight _very_ seriously. She drew her burning sword only to realize that the flame was extinguished under the intense cold and snow pummeling the blade. The fire of her sword would be useless for this fight indeed.

"Your time has come, and your tome is mine, Sacremus," she called out confidently, but not overconfidently. She held her weapon in an aggressive ready stance and waited for him to make a move. With a growl, he charged her, closing the fifty yards between them in mere seconds. His blade slashed horizontally in a motion to decapitate her, but she ducked under the swing, slashing at his arm with her own sword. She was amazed that he didn't even try to dodge, but her blade barely scratched his flesh. It was only by channeling as much of her own demonic energy into the sword that it managed to cut into the skin, but it didn't go deep.

It was enough to alarm him, however. He narrowed his empty eye sockets in her direction and let out a primal roar as his blade slashed diagonally with a speed that, even a month ago, she would have been unable to perceive. However, she had grown a lot since she began to fight against the traitors. She sidestepped and ducked the slash, using a left handled slash of her own to knock the blade aside. With a counterclockwise spin, she slashed at his chest, and she was relieved to see that she was faster than him and he was unable to block, despite actually attempting to do so.

His fury was palpable. He extended his left hand to the side of the battlefield and a long-discarded blade answered his summons and shot directly into his hand. This blade was far simpler than that which he wielded, but it was definitely equally powerful. Sacremus the Unassailable was not known for his weapons, or for his blade work, after all. He was known for his ability to take a hit and take a hit he did. Before the new blade even reached his hand, Satanichia had already dashed in with a rapid flurry of strikes from her own jagged sword, getting four clean slashed across his midsection.

The two continued the exchange for several minutes, but none of the wounds she inflicted upon him seemed to be of any use to her. He was no slower, and he didn't seem to have any inkling of pain. It was then that she finally saw it, on the other side of the clearing. The tome she had come in search of was on an obsidian pedestal. Burning ink was inscribed into the cursed pages.

It was embarrassing how long it took the cunning demoness to realize that the tome didn't _contain_ his secrets, it was the source of his power! She struck him with a powerful slash that would at least serve to slow him slightly enough for her to make a leap in the direction of the tome, and it worked! With a sadistic smile, she stabbed her sword into the book and cackled as it burst into flames. She saw the newfound hesitance in the opponent's stance, and she didn't hold back. Within seconds, he was nothing more than a few shreds of burnt flesh at her feet. She even managed to absorb some of his power. It wasn't the same level of protection that the tome would have offered, but she was definitely more resilient now.

As for her next step-

"Salut, Annabel!"

Satanichia looked up from her laptop to see two moderately large breasts in her face and she struggled to breath as she was pulled into a tight hug. She didn't know if she should try to find an air source or some kind of relief for the pain shooting through her back and jaw first, but she knew she had to do something. She struggled to get out of the grip of her assailant, but there would be no such escape. After several minutes of struggling, she gasped in as much air as she could get, thankful for clear breathing.

"Annabel! I missed you so much, my favorite cousin!" Raphael yawped as she smiled broadly at Satanichia. She was in her school uniform, and it was clear that she had been given permission to leave early to drive to the airport and pick up her cousin. The uniform was kind of cute, if Satanichia allowed herself to admit it. A nice button-up with a blazer and a modest-length skirt with pantyhose and simple flat dress shoes. It looked very stereotypical, but it was elegant, nonetheless.

"H-hi, Raphi," Satanichia mumbled awkwardly. She didn't really know how to respond to this situation. She was an awkward person anyway, but after having not seen or even called her cousin in at least six months, how was she supposed to avoid the awkwardness?

She packed her laptop into her carrying bag along with the mouse and stood, dragging her luggage behind her. She didn't bring much, but her mom had given her some money to get some more clothes and a uniform for school, so she would be alright.

"I heard what happened over in Scotland," Raphael said with actual anger. Satanichia didn't know how to react, since she wasn't used to the girl being angry, so she just walked towards the exit alongside her cousin. Seeing that she wasn't going to get a response, the other girl just kept walking and even took Satanichia's luggage for her. Maybe even she didn't have the heart to kick someone when they were as far down as Satanichia.

"Maman and papa told me to take you to the school, and you're supposed to get a tour," Raphael explained as she opened the trunk of her sedan so that Satanichia could put her things in there. The girls got in and buckled up, but Satanichia still didn't know what to say, so she just nodded.

"It won't be this awkward for long. I promise," Raphael said with a smile as she started the car.

"S-sorry, Raphi, it's just been a long week," she returned with a smile of her own, but it was a sad smile. Raphael kept driving, but she put one hand on her cousin's knee in a comforting gesture. Any other time, Satanichia would have been wary of the girl, but this seemed to be one of the few open moments the two could share without fear between them. She added, "…but thank you for being so nice."

"Of course!" Raphael said with a childish giggle. She drove Satanichia through the town and pointed out various buildings and other points of interest, explaining what they were and why they mattered. She knew she would never remember all of it, but she was going to be here for the foreseeable future, so she figured she'd get used to it. It wasn't as if she had any kind of attachment to her old home, anyway. It was nothing to her but a hive of bullying and abuse. She just didn't see how this place could be any better, minus the whole "no more abuse" thing. She hadn't made any friends despite attending her old school for two years. What would make this new school any different? She was vaguely aware that her cousin was still chattering about the town, and she felt pretty guilty about not listening.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that," she apologized. Raphael just kept smiling.

"I said, 'This is the campus,' silly," she told Satanichia proudly, "Most of the students live in dorms, but since Maman and Papa live so close, I get to live at home."

Satanichia sees a sign as they drive in search of parking and makes note of the name of the school: _Trinity Academy: We welcome the faithful!_ She rolled her eyes at how "culty" that sounded, but she said nothing. She didn't want to offend Raphael or her aunt and uncle, since they were being so nice to her. She watched as they drove by the buildings that were probably the dorms. Not many people were out, but a couple girls that seemed to be her age were walking by, two cups of hot chocolate in their hands. Satanichia began to crave a cup. She'd have to ask Raphael to stop by a coffee shop on the way home. She didn't realize that she had already inadvertently called her new place "home."

They pulled into a parking lot and got out of the car. She noticed that her cousin didn't even lock the doors on her car, so she assumed the neighborhood was a good one.

"Allons-y, mon ange!" Raphael sang in her general direction. She followed along a sidewalk for a short distance until they stood in front of a large, elegant building. It appeared to be the main school building.

"Lunch is almost over, but we don't have to go back today since I'm driving you home to unpack," she explained, "We just have to get you a tour of the main building here!"

Satanichia was a little nervous, since Raphael's smile hadn't once disappeared since she picked her up, but there was no evidence that anything was amiss, so she just kept following the girl. When her cousin stopped in front of a classroom and said nothing, Satanichia was confused. It was even more confusing when she sat down on a small bench. She followed suit.

"Uh, aren't you going to show me around?" she asked, self consciously pulling a scarf up to cover her jawline a little more. The bruise was still visible, sure, but it wasn't _as_ noticeable as it would have been without the scarf. The swelling was almost completely unnoticeable.

"Nope!" Raphael said with the same infuriating smile. Satanichia stared awkwardly at her cousin, but the girl spoke up again, "Oh! Here she comes!"

Satanichia followed her cousin's gaze and saw a woman that could only be described as an actual angel. She had the most gorgeous blonde hair that Satanichia had ever seen. It was well-kept and she wanted nothing more than to run her fingers through it and enjoy the silky embrace. Her eyes were hypnotic, consisting of the clearest blue that put the most beautiful of oceans to shame. Her skin was flawless and pale, but with a healthy dash of rosy coloring in her complexion. Her smile was delicate, and yet confident. Basically, on a beauty scale of one to ten, Satanichia would have to give her a fifty. The woman was obviously a teacher, based on her clothing, but she pitied any of the woman's students. She could certainly not keep her focus in this woman's class.

"-your homeroom teacher!" Raphael concluded with her mischievous smile that Satanichia had come to expect.

"Um, what?" she asked elegantly.

The woman's firm eyes softened as she looked down at Satanichia – she was quite a bit taller – and smiled.

"I was told only what I needed to know about your situation, Ms. McDowell," she said with a voice that was pleasant to listen to. It was almost like hearing wind chimes on a bright, sunny day. Well, Satanichia could only _imagine_ what that was like, since she was more of an indoor type, but that had to be somewhat accurate, because the teacher's voice made her heart beat faster than it had ever beat before.

"Uh, I'm sorry, but I kind of missed all that," Satanichia apologized in embarrassment. The teacher shook her head, but it was in pity.

"It's okay. After everything you've been through, it's understandable," she said with empathy. She clasped her hands together in an adorable position in front of her hips and continued, "I'm Ms. Weiss, your homeroom teacher. It's very nice to meet you."

 _Damn it._ Satanichia's blood froze at the words "homeroom teacher." It was going to be a long semester.

"O-oh," she responded shyly, "I s-see."

Ms. Weiss's smile grew slightly and it made Satanichia's already overworked heart flutter.

"I have a class to teach," she said apologetically, "but one of my students agreed to show you around the school. She should be here soon."

"Uh, right. T-thanks," Satanichia attempted to formulate a response, but the scent of the teacher's perfume was overpowering her reasoning skills. Ms. Weiss nodded and walked into the classroom.

"Wow, you seemed nervous," Raphael said gleefully, failing to hide her sadistic grin. It looked like a normal, happy grin, but for someone like Satanichia – someone with experience dealing with Raphael – it was clear that she was having some sort of perverse pleasure from this. She prodded Satanichia with her elbow and whispered, "She sure is beautiful, isn't she? She's our Practical Theology teacher!"

"That's why you've been so nice to me," Satanichia mumbled in realization. The other girl was the only one that knew that Satanichia preferred women, because Satanichia had made the mistake a few years prior of confiding in Rafael about her questioning of her own sexuality. The other girl had acted supportive, but she had ultimately used it in her endless pranks against Satanichia over the years just like everything else in her arsenal. The sadist had been so nice to her all day so she would drop her guard before meeting her new teacher, and, unfortunately, it had worked. Satanichia had been speechless and made a fool of herself in front of Ms. Weiss.

"I don't know what you're talking about, my dear cousin," Raphael said with a dazzling smile that would be right at home on either a Christian camp counselor, or a serial killer.

"Right," Satanichia said bitterly. She ignored her cousin cuddling up on her and crossed her arms, waiting to get the tour over with so she could go home and play her video game. She could really use some interaction with her actual friend after such an embarrassing day. Anything to take her mind off of it, really.

"Anyway, I have to go check in with my teacher. I'll meet you at the front office after your tour, okay, ange?" Raphael clarified with an innocent smile that would not fool Satanichia for a second.

"Whatever," she said with a pout.

Raphael stood from the bench and walked down a hallway on Satanichia's left. When the girl was out of sight, Satanichia dropped her head between her hands in her lap and sighed. She really didn't want to be there, and she just _knew_ the universe wasn't finished fucking with her yet for the day.

"Excuse me, Ms. McDowell," the voice of Ms. Weiss interrupted Satanichia's brooding and she immediately straightened up to see the angel of a woman standing by the doorway. A girl that looked almost similar to Ms. Weiss peeked her head out from behind the teacher. Her hair was also blonde, but it was less wavy and actually appeared perfectly straight, probably reaching most of the way down the girl's back. Her eyes were the same blue as their teacher's, but there was something completely different about them. Sure, the color was the same, but the emotion behind them seemed, well, _off_.

"O-oh! Ms. Weiss," she said weakly, attempting a smile and _some_ form of communication," I'm s-sorry. It was a long flight."

The teacher nodded understandingly and spoke again, "Right. It's understandable. This is Ms. White," she said with a smile and a peculiar look toward the student, "one of our more promising students. She has agreed to show you around the school and take you to get fitted for your uniform."

The girl stepped out and clasped one hand over the other in front of her, bowing her head shyly and said in the most angelic voice – surpassing even that of Ms. Weiss, "I only hope I can be helpful to you, Ms. McDowell. Moving to a new school must be so hard!"

Ms. White – was it uncommon to use first names in this school or something? – genuinely seemed to be horrified at the thought of Satanichia having to adapt to a new school. If she had known the girl's history and how she was treated at her old school, it would probably cause a heart attack.

"It's up to you to make Ms. McDowell feel welcome," Ms. Weiss said with a gentle smile filled with pride in her student.

"I'll do everything in my power! This school will be a home to her in no time!" Ms. White said solemnly with a smile more dazzling than anything Raphael could even accomplish. The difference, however, was that this smile was actually believable. Satanichia found herself actually getting excited for the tour. Was this an opportunity for an _actual_ friendship in _real life!?_

"Thank you, Ms. White," Ms. Weiss said with a smile, "I'll leave you to it."

Ms. Weiss exited the hallway and the two were alone. Ms. White walked down the hallway in the opposite direction that Raphael had left earlier and Satanichia hurried to follow her. It felt kind of strange thinking of the girl as "Ms. White," but she didn't know _what else_ to call her.

"Hello! My name is," she paused, quickly realizing that for any sense of normalcy in this school, her online username would be horribly inappropriate, "Annabel. Thank you for the tour."

She was proud that she managed to actually say something without messing up her speech with this other girl. Maybe they really _could_ become friends? Satanichia was actually beginning to feel hopeful.

"Oh," Ms. White said after a second, before lazily replying, "the cafeteria is down this hall, and the Headmistress' office is down the opposite hall. Right next door to that you can get your uniform. Bye."

The girl sounded absolutely bored. If before she had sounded like a perfect adorable angel, then now she sounded more like someone that couldn't be bothered to roll out of bed and instead spent the whole day lazing about their home watching T.V. and doing nothing productive. _That was a very specific analogy,_ Satanichia mused. _Wait! She's leaving already?_

"Wait! Where are you going?" she asked timidly. She had expected an actual tour, not vague directions and a goodbye.

"I have plans," the girl explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world," and Ms. Weiss offered me the day off if I showed you around."

Satanichia's heart sank. Whereas she had been excited with the idea of possibly making a friend, now her hopes were being crushed like a pigeon in a _Bioware_ game.

"R-right, s-sorry to be a burden," she mumbled. She noticed the other girl freeze in her tracks for a brief moment before turning around and looking into her eyes. Ms. White sighed.

"Follow me," she said softly. Satanichia obeyed and felt a little guilty for apparently guilt tripping the poor girl, but she couldn't think of a way to apologize without being awkward.

"This," the blonde gestured to a door that Satanichia would have easily overlooked on any other day, "is the library. It's open until like eight o'clock I think."

The two walked a little further down the hall, with the blonde walking at a lazier pace. They stopped in front of two double doors.

"This is the cafeteria. Food cost is covered with tuition, so you don't have to pay for it," she explained more patiently than Satanichia had expected after how quickly she had planned to leave her behind. She felt kind of bad about taking up the girl's time, but it was kind of nice interacting with someone that wasn't tripping her or bullying her verbally or physically.

"The rooms are labeled based on the floor," the blonde said as they walked through the hall. She gestured at a few of the doors, "See? Like 1-C, 1-D, whatever. Upstairs you'll find classrooms 2-A, 2-whatever."

Satanichia took a mental note of this. She would have to know this when she got her class schedule, for sure, so she made sure to pay close attention. It didn't hurt that the girl was still kind of adorable and fun to listen to despite her complete one-eighty degree personality change.

"There's the gymnasium, right across from the auditorium," the other girl gestured to the double doors on either side of the wide hall they stood in. A short walk later, they reached the front of the school once again, "-and there's the Headmistress' office."

Satanichia saw that Raphael wasn't there yet, so she decided it would be as good a time as any to get fitted for her uniform.

"Right," Ms. White said when she remembered the uniform instructions, "it's over here."

She pointed to a smaller, unmarked door next to the Headmistress' office and walked over there. Satanichia followed.

Inside the room, there was a middle-aged man with a receding hairline and stubble reading a newspaper with his feet propped up on a stack of old-fashioned milk crates. Despite his unkempt appearance, he was pretty well-dressed. He paused from his reading and looked up when they walked in.

"What can I do for you girls?" he asked politely. Satanichia would have expected him to speak with an American Boston accent based on his appearance, so she was surprised at his quasi-Aussie accent.

"She needs a uniform," Satanichia's tour guide explained.

"Oh, well I can take care of that," he took out a measuring tape, paused, and a look of realization came upon him, "but, uh, I'll need your help getting her measurements."

"What do you mean?" both girls asked at once. Satanichia couldn't let this new girl that she had just met do something so embarrassing. She would never be able to face her again after such a thing.

"Well, my partner is out sick, and I can hardly be alone in a room with an underdressed girl," he said matter-of-factly, "so we can either guess on your uniform sizes, or your friend here can take care of the measurements while I'm out of the room."

Satanichia got a good feeling in her belly at the word friend, but she still felt really uncomfortable with the situation. Ms. White sighed next to her and reached out to take the measuring tape from his hands.

"Just chest, hip, and shoulders?" she asked in annoyance. The man nodded and stepped out of the room to give them privacy. The blonde closed the door behind the man and gestured towards Satanichia with her chin, "Undress."

"What!?" Satanichia exclaimed at the ridiculous request. She couldn't possibly do this. Not only would it be embarrassing, but she couldn't let this girl know about the reason she had come to this new town in the first place.

"Just to your bra," the girl explained slightly exasperatedly, as if she were talking to a complete idiot, "otherwise, we won't get a good measurement, and I'd like to get this over with."

"O-okay," Satanichia reluctantly agreed. She didn't want to cause any more trouble for the other girl. That would be a sure-fire way to screw up any chance of friendship she had with her. She unbuttoned her jacket, slipped her scarf to the ground with it, and removed her t-shirt slowly. She looked down at her feet in shame, able to feel the other girl's eyes on her torso and, more importantly, neck and jawline.

"Oh," the other girl whispered and Satanichia risked a peek to see that her eyes were wide. Her hand lifted toward her jaw and touched it lightly, just as Satanichia's brother had done the night before. She didn't even try to stop it. There was no point now, and she was going to be known as "the girl with an abusive family" from there on anyway.

"C-can we get the measurement, please?" she asked quietly, wishing to be anywhere but there.

"Sure," the girl answered, and any coldness or nonchalant mannerisms were out the window. The girl was already treating her differently, and Satanichia kind of resented the fact. After the measurements were taken, and she had put all of her clothes back on, the man came back into the room and took the measurements – which were written on a blank piece of notebook paper- from Ms. White. He promised to have her uniform ready by the following Monday.

When they exited the uniform man's room, there was an awkward silence between the two, and neither knew how to fill it. Thankfully, Satanichia could see her cousin about twenty yards away, so she at least had an out.

"I'll, uh, I'll see you around," she said looking anywhere but at the other girl.

"Right," the blonde said with a nod, before the two turned to exit in different directions. She was going toward a distant exit that led to the dorms, and Satanichia was going to go home and forget all about this awful day.

"Annabel."

She turned to the voice of the blonde classmate and shot a questioning glance.

"It's, uh, Gabriel. My name is Gabriel."

Her heart was warmed by that small interaction, and the awkwardness melted away. She stopped walking and stared at the other girl for a second, like a deer in headlights and finally smiled.

"Thank you," she whispered, but she knew that Gabriel could hear it.

 _Gabriel. Huh. What a nice name._


	8. You Have Learned a New Profession!

**Hey guys! Sorry about the delay. I've been drinking a bit for the past two weeks, and drunk me thought it was a good idea to write ahead a few chapters. That version of me is an idiot. Anyway, I just wanted to note a couple things that I thought about today while I was re-reading this. I know Raphiel's name is spelled "Raphiel" in the anime, but I went with Raphael because that's the actual spelling of the Archangel she's named after, and, in this story, I can't imagine a religious family naming their child after an angel altering the spelling. Second, Gabriel probably seems a bit OOC. That's... _slightly_ intentional. I'm playing this story off as having them both be socially awkward due to personal circumstances. The quirks we love from the anime are actually side effects of the social awkwardness. Just wanted to mention those things! **

**As usual, I sincerely appreciate you guys reading this, and I hope you enjoy it!**

Moments of relaxation were rare with the cosmic war between good, evil, and worse evil in full swing. It was usually the angels that allowed themselves to indulge in such moments more than the demons, since the demons were more inclined to having insatiable bloodlust. The only real times that demons usually joined in was when they were well acquainted with an angel and got dragged along. This was one of those moments.

Gabriellia was dancing festively in the town center of this mortal city to celebrate the fall of a powerful demon. It had been hard fought, but she had forced the bastard to relinquish the holy relic he had stolen and she had purified the diadem with her own holy presence. She now wore it on her golden-maned head and it was a perfect boost to her already graceful beauty.

Vignetta was hesitantly dancing beside the angel, but her dance was more seductive while still having the festive feel of the other creature's dance. The seductiveness was just a trait of her race.

The mortals were celebrating and threw a party in honor of their three heroes, and everyone was waiting for the arrival of the third, Satanichia. The fall of the demon of the abandoned cathedral was a tale that would be told for generations, and she had been the one to land the killing blow. It was a sign to the mortals that demons could be just as heroic as angels. Now, if only their hero would arrive…

"Sorry, guys," Satanichia apologized into her mic. She had been AFK for about forty minutes and Gabriel was beginning to get impatient.

"'s 'kay," Gabriellia responded, still dancing in the town and showing off her new epic-quality diadem. The boss fight had been intense, but Gabriel and Satanichia had crunched the numbers – damage done by the boss, damage reduction based on Satanichia's defense rating, and damage output (mostly from Vignette) – and figured that the boss should be killable. An hour later, after killing all the trash mobs again, the boss was dead and Gabriellia had the secret item.

The item itself boosted the healer's intelligence and endurance by, honestly, a broken amount. It also increased healing done by a flat fifteen percent. It was extremely powerful, but it was also extremely rare. There were no quests to go into the cathedral, and it was just one of literally dozens of similar buildings in the game. Truthfully, the three girls had only found it because they were one of the few players that actually _read_ the quests and explored. Sure, they were going to reach max level more slowly than some players, but items like this could last well beyond the level cap.

"Is everything alright, Satanichia? You seemed a little off last night," Vignette asked into her own mic. Gabriel and her friend had planned on checking up on the girl after her abrupt departure the previous night, but Gabriel was getting a feeling that it went deeper than just whatever had happened that one night.

"I had a long day, yesterday," the tank carefully answered, "I just lost my cool for a moment. Sorry."

"You have cool?" Gabriellia casually teased. She decided that lightening the mood was the best bet for getting the girl to open up.

"Shut up, Gab," Vignette cut in. Satanichia chuckled.

"Good, my minion. Come to your master's aid," she cackled loudly.

"Shut up, Satanichia," Vignette responded flatly.

"Say, Satania," Gabriel interrupted the argument before it even came.

"Yeah?" she asked curiously.

"You said you needed five hundred gold coins to buy those herbs for the potion you need to level your skill, right?" Gabriellia confirmed.

"Er, yeah," Satanichia answered skeptically.

"Open a trade with me, you useless demon," Gabriellia joking jabbed at her. She ran over there, satisfied at the sound of her new diadem projecting a soft hymn in her proximity.

"Where'd you get that much gold, anyway?" Satanichia asked, clearly amazed.

"Dancing in the city. Lots of RP'ers pretending I'm a princess or something," Gabriellia explained.

"That's pretty dishonest, taking advantage of them," Vignette pointed out. Gabriel traded the coins to Satanichia and opened her character menu to marvel at her crown a little more.

"It's not like I made them give me money," Gabriellia argued. Satanichia began crafting potions beside her.

"Fine, fair enough, but back to the point. Satanichia," the girl looked up from her potion menu, "do you want to talk about it?"

"Nah, it was nothing. Just had an argument with my family yesterday," she explained awkwardly.

"What kind of argument?" Gabriel asked, a hint of well-hidden concern in her voice. She didn't want to push the girl, and Satanichia was clearly being evasive.

"I, uh, I didn't meet his standards for our family," Satanichia said, but it was clear that she was lying.

"Oh, that sucks. Sorry," she said as a loud alarm blared on her phone. She groaned and said dejectedly, "Sorry, I have to go. I'll be back in a couple hours."

"What? Where are you going?" Vignetta asked, seemingly surprised.

"Got something to take care of. Uh, you two can keep grinding until I get back. Shouldn't be long."

"R-right," Satanichia confirmed, making the necessary preparations, repairing her equipment and making some potions.

"Well, hurry back, Gab. Being in your messy room alone gives me the creeps."

"Rude. Be right back."

\0/

The bell chimed as the door opened. Gabriel resisted the urge to look back at the bell on the door. She wasn't exactly _used_ to being out and about. She much preferred being at her dorm playing her video games. She slowly dragged her feet toward the counter on the other side of the small shop, mentally preparing for her act. She knew what she was about to do was dishonest, but it was her best bet to follow her parents' orders and still have the maximum free time for her gaming.

She hadn't told Vignette about it, but she had received a call from her parents the previous day and they were making her sign up for a club at school _and_ get a part time job. Her father had told her that even one day per week was fine. He just wanted her to get some experience at a job and learn the value of a dollar. She would even get to keep the money, so she was happy with that. It just kind of sucked having to get a job when she not only had to do her stupid homework, but also join a club. She hadn't even considered that part yet.

"Hello!" the shopkeeper called out to her with a wide smile, "it's always a pleasant surprise to see today's youth taking an interest in the joys of coffee. How may I help you?"

She took a deep breath. She had practiced this for a long time and she knew she could do it, but she always got nervous. In a voice that even _she_ had to admit was adorable, she said, "HellomynameisGabrielcanIhaveajobplease?"

She allowed her words to run together in a way that suggested a lack of fluency. It sounded more like she had just spent an hour trying to memorize that sentence and had since repeated it in her head over and over as she walked over here. It was exactly the vibe she wanted to give, and based on the pity in the Japanese-Englishman's eyes, it had worked. Who else would be able to relate to that young foreigner trying to make their way in a new country other than a man whom had done the same? A Japanese immigrant who had managed to not only successfully integrate into a new country, but had even managed to open his own coffee shop was her target, and she felt very guilty since she _could_ remember what it had been like when she _was_ new to England without a shred of English ability.

"I-I'm sorry, young lady. You said you're looking for a job?" he asked nervously.

Gabriel didn't speak. She wasn't at a loss for words, but she knew that not speaking would help push the not-fluent story she was trying to pass off. She consciously mouthed the words that the coffee shop owner had said and finally muttered out, "Job? Yeah please."

She spoke rapidly in the way a speaker of a foreign language would rush through sentences so that they could blend together and seem more fluent but that actually sounded more foreign. She even made sure to stumble over the transition between the words "job" and "yeah," pronouncing "yeah" more like the German "ja." Truly, this act was far more ingenious than Vignette gave her credit for.

"Er, well, you see, business hasn't picked up for the season yet, so I'm afraid I can't hire on any help right n-," he began, before his words completely failed him at the sight before him. This was the climax of the act for Gabriel. It wasn't all about throwing the accent together. Her mannerisms made the act believable, and this was her golden chance. She had expected his rejection. She had even counted on it. A small coffee shop like this surely wouldn't be able to afford an employee, but if she played her cards right, she could land a job that took up as little as one day per week. She threw her biggest sad eyes that she had ever worn, and she could feel the tears forming in her tear ducts. She made sure to make her lower lip quiver slightly. When the shop owner interrupted himself mid-sentence, Gabriel knew she had won.

"Of course, with the holidays approaching, I could always use more help! And it certainly wouldn't do for any new employees to be untrained! Er, when could you begin?" he asked desperately.

Gabriel smiled wickedly inside her mind. She had succeeded, and now she just had to close the deal. She sniffled a little to sell the emotional impact and pretended to stealthily wipe her eyes. She said shyly, carefully remembering her accent, "I c-could come tomorrow."

The shopkeeper smiled at her and nodded, "Of course, ma'am. You said your name is Gabriel?"

She nodded with more false shyness and he held out a hand, which she shook hesitantly. He gestured for her to wait a moment with his hand and walked to the back room of the shop. She could hear him rummaging around and she felt a little awkward standing in the empty shop like that, but she had to keep up the act. After about three minutes, he walked back out holding something. In his hands was a neatly folded uniform that looked almost similar to his own formal-ish shirt. In fact, from the waist up, the uniform appeared to be completely identical to his, but there was a skirt instead of the formal slacks. Piled on top of the dress was a pair of quasi-formal dress flats. Before Gabriel could even consider changing her mind about this whole ordeal, the shopkeeper spoke up.

"I think this uniform is your size," he said with a warm smile," You're about the same size as my daughter. Just tell me if it doesn't, and we'll work something out."

She knew he was being really nice, but she _really_ didn't want to wear that uniform. The only bright side was that no one her age ever really frequented any coffee shop, especially this one. Most of them preferred to eat out at more informal pubs. She would likely not be recognized, so she took solace in that fact. She took the uniform from him with a nod.

"Thank you," she said with her thick German accent, "I will be here at four."

"That's very agreeable," he said with his moustache arching with his smile, "I'm Mr. Umezu, if anything goes wrong."

She nodded, already halfway out the door and called back, "Gotcha. See you tomorrow, Master Umezu."

"It's _Mister_ Umezu!" she heard him call out, but she pretended not to hear it. This job was going to be fun, as far as jobs went.

\0/

"To have a job while still being a student. I cannot imagine how difficult that must be."

Gabriel found that the uniform _did_ fit. She was upset to see that she actually looked _cute_ in it. Because of her short height and some fluke of nature, her fellow classmates all saw her as an adorable little girl, despite her being the same age as many of them. She tried to dissuade them all, and she had mostly succeeded with Vignette, but every time she took a step forward in that regard, she seemed to take two steps back. This uniform was probably four or five steps back.

Thankfully the coffee shop was only about a fifteen-minute walk from school, and she made sure to give herself about an hour to get there after class was over. She would therefore have plenty of time to change into her uniform so that she wouldn't have to carry it in her backpack at school and no one would know about this job. The last thing she needed was for her classmates to walk in and fawn over her. She didn't care so much if Vignette knew, since the girl was likely to find out that she had a job eventually anyway, but she couldn't imagine the embarrassment if anyone else saw her like this. Especially that new girl that obviously had a crush on Ms. Weiss and was clearly attracted to blonds. What was that girl's name again? Ms. Mc-something. _Annabel! That's it!_

Despite the awkwardness of the tour she had given the girl the previous day, her heart went out to her. The whole situation was painting a clear picture in her mind and she didn't like it. A new girl moving to a new school in the middle of the semester, her body covered in bruises, and her confidence nearly nonexistent. Gabriel knew exactly what had happened to the poor girl, and she felt awkward because she wanted to do _something,_ but she didn't know what.

"It's not so bad, Master," she muttered in response, forgetting her accent. It didn't seem that Mr. Umezu noticed.

The girl hadn't been in school today, but Ms. Weiss had given her the option to wait until the following week. The girl had probably wanted to take the time for her bruises to heal. Well, that or she was too embarrassed to see Gabriel so soon. Poor thing. Gabriel may have put herself out there as a heartless, unmotivated, good-for-nothing girl, but she did indeed feel love, pity, and other emotions, and right now she was actually feeling anger towards whomever had hurt the poor defenseless girl, Annabel.

"I'm impressed even so," he responded, "Do you remember how to greet customers?"

She didn't remember exactly what he had told her to say, but it was something overly formal and boring. She didn't care that much anyway, because her mind was on Annabel all day, even at school. She was horribly worried, and, worse yet, she couldn't think of how to help the girl. The girl had escaped somehow, since she had changed schools, but to heal from the abuse, she would need to care for her mental wounds, not just the physical ones. She would need something more than distance from whomever abused her. She would need emotional connections. A steady relationship with someone her age. In other words, she needed a friend.

"Sure," Gabriel said with a nod.

Could Gabriel do that? Could Gabriel befriend someone new like that? She only had one real friend, and that was Vignette. She had acquaintances at school, but they just knew her mask that she wore to impress Ms. Weiss. She had never had a true friend until she met Vignette. Was she capable of being a Vignette for someone else? It certainly wouldn't be easy, but she made a resolution to make it happen. It was a promise she was making to herself, and she didn't make it lightly. When next she saw Annabel, she would reach out to the girl and…

The bell chimed above the door. Gabriel instinctively called out, "C'mon in."

She knew it was wrong, but it got the message across. _Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?_

Her vision tunneled, however, when she saw who was standing in the open archway. Annabel was right there, staring dumbfoundedly at her with an admittedly cute blush on her face. She was wearing casuals and her scarf from the previous day. The redhead was literally sputtering as she tried to come up with a sentence, and Gabriel was extremely conscious of the uniform she was wearing. She didn't even realize it as her body reacted faster than her mind could ever do in this situation. She dashed over to Annabel with athleticism that she didn't own and grabbed the girl with both arms – tucked under her right arm- and tossed her outside the door.

"D-did you do something to that customer!?" Mr. Umezu was suddenly in the room again, sporting a shocked expression.

"Er, yeah," Gabriel said, still trying to figure for herself what she had done, "I grabbed her and tossed her outside."

"Eh? You tossed a customer outside!?"

"It's okay," Gabriel tried to reason with herself and Mr. Umezu, "I know her from school."

Three minutes later, Annabel was sitting at a table in the coffee shop with Mr. Umezu apologizing profusely for Gabriel's actions. He didn't seem angry at her as much as he seemed worried about Annabel, so that was good, but she couldn't explain her actions, not even to herself. Sure, it was embarrassing to be seen by a classmate in her new uniform. Sure, it was spur of the moment and she completely panicked. Still, she knew that she shouldn't have acted so drastically.

Annabel, for her part, seemed to be pretty calm about the thing. She didn't seem to be in pain, despite having teared up a bit after the initial impact. She was actually looking away as she tried to tell Mr. Umezu that it was okay. He was having none of it and was offering her free coffee and pastries and all kinds of things to make up for this. Gabriel felt even worse.

It was kind of funny. She could manipulate others pretty well, and her acting was top notch, but she still considered herself pretty socially awkward. Not quite on the level of Annabel, but she definitely didn't understand instinctively how to interact with peers her own age as other girls seemed to. She had to consciously think on what to say and do, and so she spent a lot of her time in her head. This led a lot of people to believe she was distant or that she didn't get involved much socially. Some considered _that_ of all things cute. The only one to realize that her bad behavior spawned due to her lack of social skills was Vignette, and even she tried to push Gabriel out of her comfort zone – MMOs – quite often. Her fall into video games to cover her insecurities eventually turned into a reliance on video games and now she was very much addicted to them.

Gabriel decided to try and relieve Mr. Umezu from his burden – he was currently explaining that the girl was a foreigner and didn't quite understand interactions in England quite well yet – and she walked over to the table and smiled at Annabel. She hoped it was a genuine-looking smile.

"I'm sorry for what I did," she apologized, careful to maintain her accent. She even tried to throw some "cute" into her voice. Annabel seemed distracted as she kept talking, "I got so nervous when I saw you walk in and I panicked."

Mr. Umezu looked at her proudly and added, "And we would love the opportunity to make it up to you, madam."

"I-it's really okay," Annabel muttered, looking extremely uncomfortable. Gabriel felt for the girl but she needed to make it up to her as well.

"What kind of coffee do you like?" Gabriel asked suddenly, still trying to be as charmingly adorable as possible.

Annabel kind of stumbled over her words as she said, "U-um, I'm not really… I should go…"

Gabriel shook her head and placed her hands on the girl's shoulders, holding her down. She excitedly chirped a "be right back" and made her way behind the counter. She had never actually _used_ any of the equipment before, but it couldn't be so hard. She had seen Mr. Umezu use the machines for the past hour or so, so she was pretty confident she could figure it out. Now she just had to figure out what kind of drink the redhead would enjoy.

"Lots of chocolate?" she muttered thoughtfully to herself. She decided to wing it and mixed a fair amount of chocolate in and filled most of the cup with hot, foamy milk and steaming espresso. She stirred it carefully, ignoring the nervous glances she was getting from Mr. Umezu, who was still apologizing to Annabel. She carefully topped the drink with whipped cream and applied a delicate caramel drizzle. It was a masterpiece.

…or at least it _should_ have been. She wasn't sure she got the ratio of milk to espresso quite right and the caramel drizzle looked like a child had put it on the coffee. The whipped cream looked really nice, but then again, how could one screw _that_ up? She put the cup on a fancy saucer and carried it over to the table, placing it down in front of Annabel.

"I made that just for you!" she said cutely, tilting her head in a way she had seen idols do on T.V.

"F-for me?" Annabel asked shyly. Mr. Umezu was absolutely beaming.

"Of course, ma'am. I only hope that you can enjoy it as much as I'm sure young Gabriel has enjoyed making it."

The bell on the door chimed and Mr. Umezu shot a quick apologetic look at Annabel before turning to the door.

"Welcome! Please, have a seat and I'll be right with you," he said charismatically and effortlessly. Gabriel didn't know how he could interact with strangers like that. It was so _awkward_ for her. He walked elegantly to the table the young man had chosen and began his pitch for his house blend. Gabriel turned her attention to Annabel.

The girl was still staring at the coffee Gabriel had made for her. She was blowing on it slightly to cool it, and her eyes were avoiding Gabriel as if she was some kind of plagued animal. She didn't know if it was because of the uniform or because of the whole situation, but she would make it up to her somehow. _I keep resolving to do that, but I don't know how,_ she thought, frustrated with her own inability to pick up social cues fluidly.

"How is it?" she asked casually. Well, she hoped it sounded casual. She mistimed her question, however, because she asked it as Annabel was raising the cup to her mouth for a sip. The shy girl panicked in surprised and sloshed the whipped cream onto her face, giving herself a dot on her nose and probably burning her tongue on the hot coffee. Gabriel winced.

"I-it's good," she said nervously, "T-thank you."

"You can look at me if you want," Gabriel offered with another smile, "I promise I won't throw you again."

The smiling and cutesy act were kind of becoming difficult for Gabriel, but she didn't mind. She was setting sociable goals for this encounter, and her quest in this case had an objective of seeing the other girl smile at least once. She was currently applying buffs to herself and now she just needed to weaken her opponent's defense – metaphorically! – until the girl smiled. It would work. She would make sure it would.

"R-right, sorry. I, uh, didn't expect to see you here," she explained.

Gabriel felt even worse.

"It's okay," Gabriel said embarrassedly, "I just didn't want any of my classmates to see me in this uniform. They already think I'm some kind of doll."

She was relieved to see Annabel smile slightly at that.

"I- I guess you don't like being called cute?" she asked conversationally.

"N-no, I've always been on the short side, so I think it's demeaning," she said, twirling her hair with her left index finger. _Huh. When did I sit down with her?_ She felt a little awkward talking about her height, so she changed the subject.

"Why are you here?" she asked, "I mean, why this coffee shop?"

"I was just exploring the town, I guess," Annabel said neutrally. Gabriel really couldn't tell if the girl even _liked_ the town. She definitely didn't sound excited, despite there being so much neat stuff for a new person to see. Her mouth got ahead of her thoughts, however.

"I could show you around if you want," she said without thinking. That seemed to shock Annabel, if the girl's blush was anything to go by.

"S-sure," she said nervously, "When do you want to do it?"

"Uh, tomorrow?" Gabriel offered.

"Sure thing," Annabel said with a smile. It was adorable. She clarified, "When and where should we meet?"

"Er, here at noon?" Gabriel suggested.

"Sounds great!" the other girl said, seemingly cheered up from the rocky start of the coffee shop visit. She gulped the last of her drink down and stood up, the wooden chair scraping slightly on the floor, "Well, I think I should go now. My cousin is probably waiting for me."

"Right. Raphael?"

"Uh, yeah. That's her. You know her?"

"A little bit."

 _Life just keeps throwing her curveballs, doesn't it?_ Gabriel knew Raphael all too well. They had been classmates since they were small children. This was actually the first year that they were assigned different homeroom teachers. Ms. Weiss had apparently requested Gabriel, much to her annoyance.

She didn't have a problem with the girl. She was nice enough, but she was just, well, different was a poor way of putting it. The first word that came to her mind was "twisted," but that seemed a little rude since the girl was definitely not, like, a serial killer or anything. The girl just found entertainment in some screwed up things. The two of them had shared in many pranks at their classmates' expense as children, but it was never anything _too_ harmful. However, while Gabriel had matured and become the half-doll, half-slob she was now, Raphael had turned to more unconventional means of enjoyment. It was still little things, yeah, but it was almost like she was a full-blown sadist.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure. See you."

"Thanks for the coffee," Annabel shouted as she opened the door, "it was delicious."

Gabriel watched her leave and felt like she could tick off this part of the quest as a success. She walked over to Mr. Umezu to reassure him that Annabel offered her forgiveness and she got back to work. It was a pretty calm night after that, but she couldn't keep the grin from her face.

Even when she walked into her dorm and was surprised to see that it was clean, the grin was still there. She was just in a good mood. Something about having successfully having a conversation with someone that wasn't Vignette or on the other side of the world via microphone was exhilarating for her. She didn't have much experience doing so without making a complete social buffoon of herself. That was why she had become so antisocial in recent years. But she had just done it. Sure, it had begun with literally throwing a girl out of a door, but she had patched that up pretty quickly. She was proud, and she may have made another friend. That was _two_ new friends in a matter of months: first Satanichia (whom Gabriel still fully intended on checking up on after her strange behavior in recent days) and now Annabel. Maybe she was finally coming into her own?

She tossed her backpack aside and sat down on her bed. She opened her laptop, reaching for the familiar bag of potato crisps, only to realize with a sad sigh that they were gone. She looked across the dorm to see them neatly sealed and placed on top of the mini-fridge, with other dry snacks. She reached feebly across with her arms, but her arms couldn't quite make the several meter distance and she fell back onto her bed dejectedly.

She started when she felt a thump on her belly and smiled at the package of crisps she had been craving. She opened them and shoved handfuls into her mouth excitedly, barely taking the time to chew.

"How was the evening at your parents' house?" Vignette asked from the table she had found herself taking up so often lately.

"Eh, uneventful," Gabriel lied as naturally as she breathed, "Why did you clean my room?"

"It's been irritating me for a while," Vignette admitted, "You should really be more responsible, Gab."

"If I didn't know better, I'd think _you_ were the one from the strict Christian household," Gabriel noted as she rolled over and logged into the MMO on her laptop. She grinned as Vignette did the same without prompting. The responsible girl blushed and stammered slightly.

"T-there's nothing wrong with keeping a clean room and waking up at a reasonable hour!" she defended, but it fell on deaf ears. Gabriel was already inviting Satanichia to a party.

"Nyahahahaha! Hello, my faithful minions," she cheerfully announced into the party chat, "it just so happens that I was just invited to a raid because they need a tank. Wanna come along?"

It was like night and day. After talking to the super shy Annabel, Satanichia seemed so confident. She jabbed at Gabriel playfully, she gave commands in combat, and she was just so _loud._ Sure, the gamer _seemed_ shy sometimes, but that was usually only when Gabriel or Vignette brought up something personal. _Meh. Plenty of time to look into that later,_ she mused.

"Count us in," Gabriel said, ignoring the questioning stare of Vignette.


	9. You Have Discovered a New Location!

**Hey guys! Just wanted to make sure to note here - the description of the fic states it, but I'm being careful - that the rating is M. I don't plan on writing anything graphic, but I wanted to be safe. There will be some references and language that I wouldn't be comfortable reading in front of a child, but, as I said, there won't be any graphic love scenes/gore.**

 **Again, I want to thank you guys for reading this. I know I don't reply to any reviews or PMs that often. Truth be told, I'm super shy and incapable of functioning socially both in real life and online, so I usually clam up and just don't reply often. However, I _do_ appreciate you guys. Thanks, hope you enjoy! **

**(Also, the next chapter is partially finished already. It was actually going to be a part of this chapter, but I had to cut it off for reasons)**

Contrary to popular belief, a corrupted angel isn't automatically a demon. Likewise, a demon leaning more toward the pure side of the spectrum isn't automatically an angel. There's a massive grey area between the holiest of angels and the most wicked of demons. A corrupt angel would likely retain their feathery wings and halo, but the wings would probably be ruffled, and their halo black at worst, a dull brown at best. A purified demon would still be afflicted with toughened skin and burning blood – thought less fiery than otherwise – but their appearance would lean more toward a human with minor demonic transformations.

A small army of corrupted angels stood before Satanichia as her red hair blew in the wind. Tiny spark-like flames danced off of her sheathed blade. A far simpler blade – also shorter than her primary blade – hang at her right hip. Her light armor covered less than thirty percent of her body, but that was fine. Her skin was thicker than any armor thanks to her demonic nature. A black hooded cloak was wrapped around her body, covering most of her body that was revealed by the armor. Her eyes narrowed at the approaching force. She wasn't afraid. She had allies of her own.

A coalition of no less than thirty demons and angels stood in perfect formation behind her, weapons and magic at the ready. She glanced back at her allies and screamed, "Together, we fight!"

She internally grinned at the small smiles she received from Gabriellia and Vignetta. Kicking off with her right foot, she, along with about a dozen other melee fighters, charged toward the fallen forces of Heaven. A massive roar of inspiration came from her small army and finally blades began to crash. There were three groups of fallen angels that were being engaged, and Satanichia was leading the assault on the first. She called out commands to her small group until all of the enemies fell and ordered her group to split and assist with the other two groups.

As the army stood, victorious, bones were jarred as the ground shook below their feet and hooves. Satanichia grit her teeth. This was where the real challenge began.

A massive dragon with burning veins filled with holy fire emerged from the cavern in the distance. Ascending until it was leagues above the troops, the dragon roared and blasted a huge wave of corrupt holy flame. Satanichia cried out in pain. Being a demon was usually beneficial, but she was more sensitive to angel powers because of it. She winced as her wounds were healed by Gabriellia. The healing magic healed her wounds, but it was still holy, so it definitely still burned, but to a lesser degree than the dragon's flame. With a loud roar, the dragon landed on the ground in front of the three groups and roared.

"Groups one and three should be flanking him, just out of range of his wings and tail. Group two, protect the healers. Group four, stay at range and get ready for the adds. Group five, we need to swap threat on the boss as need to manage the debuff," Satanichia commanded through the party chat. Most of the players with mics responded affirmatively. With a quick sip of her energy drink, she charged into battle and pulled the boss.

Things were going pretty smoothly. The boss's health slowly ticked away as Satanichia kept aggro from the boss. She watched as the adds – several small dragons and some angels riding on the dragons – spawned to the left of the boss.

"West side, group four," she called out. She watched out of the corner of her eye as the tank from group four pulled the adds and the damage dealers began burning them down. The healers were keeping up with the boss's damage really well. The only obstacle she was seeing was the fact that the other tanks in her group were not taunting as they should have been. She awkwardly said, "Ballzdeep69, taunt the boss."

"On it," he confirmed. She sighed in relief as the boss was taunted from her. She kept some damage up on the boss so she could tank when the time came. She smiled at the healing buff placed on her by Gabriellia.

"Cool. What percentage is the mini-boss add at?" she asked group four.

"T-ten percent!" Vignetta chimed in awkwardly. She was clearly out of her comfort zone, but she was doing great for a girl that Satanichia wouldn't even consider a gamer.

"Nice. When he dies, just nuke the boss. Blow all damage cooldowns and we should be able to finish him off," she said with a smirk. She was doing her first raid in an MMO and she was acting as the leader of the group. She hadn't expected this, but since no one in the group had had any more experience than her – except Gabriellia – she had been volunteered as the tank to be the raid leader.

"Our tank's down!" one of the damage dealers in group four called into the mic.

"Damn! On it! Cover for me, group five," she called out and leapt to the location of the mini-boss. She taunted him from the damage dealers, frustrated to see that three of the group members had died when the tank died. Unfortunately, that included the healer. She stammered into her mic, "I- I need a healer!"

"Can do," Gabriellia said in a focused tone. Satanichia kept the mini-boss on her and used her damage reduction cooldown. She watched her health bar fill quickly, feeling a lot of gratitude to the RNG gods for giving her healer friend her new diadem.

"Thanks."

A minute-and-a-half later, the boss finally fell. Satanichia received a dragon scale dust for her alchemy skill and a dragon scale lining to apply to her cloak. Gabriellia got a golden sash from the dragon's treasure pile. Vignetta looted a new dagger that boosted her damage by a decent percentage. Most of the raid were loudly cheering Satanichia on due to her success as a leader, and it was a good twenty minutes before she managed to clear the raid and got back into her cozy party of three.

"That was amazing, Satania. You were so confident," Gabriellia said with clear amazement in her voice.

"I- I'm a natural leader, of course!" she awkwardly boasted.

"It shows. It's kinda hot," Gabriellia noted, before quickly interrupting herself, "… over here. It's hot in my room."

"D-did y-you just…?" Satanichia stuttered, with a deep blush. She could swear she heard laughter from the other side of Gabriellia's mic.

"Shut up."

"R-right. Well, I need to go to sleep. It's, uh, pretty late here," Satanichia said with a yawn.

"Okay. See you tomorrow?" The laughter intensified, and Satanichia had a feeling it was Vignetta's voice.

"Uh, yeah. Should be able to, later in the day," she said, finally pushing away her embarrassment.

"Good. We can finally form our guild tomorrow. Night."

"G-good night," she said shyly.

"Good night, Satanichia," Vignetta finally joined in the conversation. Satanichia was now completely positive that the earlier laughter was from the other demon, now that she heard the giggling in her voice. She logged off and removed her headset. She turned off her laptop and stood from her chair, walking to the door of her new room. She glanced at the clock and winced when she saw that it was almost two a.m. She would have just gone straight to sleep, but giving out commands all night had left her parched. She snuck into the hallway, making her way to the stairs and down to the kitchen. Surprisingly, when she reached it, she wasn't alone.

"Raphi?" she asked, confused. Her older cousin was kneeling and digging through the refrigerator. The sadistic girl turned and poked her head out, eyes brightening when she saw Satanichia.

"Annabel!" she exclaimed, way too loudly for two a.m., and Satanichia tried to make a "hush!" gesture as quietly as possible. The other girl giggled and whispered, "Right. Sorry. Are you thirsty?"

Satanichia tilted her head and then nodded, "Uh, yeah. I was just going to grab a drink and go to bed."

"What are you doing up so late?" Raphael asked casually, reaching into the fridge, grabbing a couple sodas.

"Uh, nothing. Just, uh, playing a video game," she explained awkwardly. She winced when her cousin jogged over to her and hugged her tightly. _At least this time I'm not being suffocated by her breasts_ , Satanichia counted her blessings.

"Oh, you're so cute," Raphael said, lifting a hand to pinch Satanichia's cheek. She kept pinching the struggling girl and giggled as her victim tried to ward her off. Eventually she finally stopped and gave Satanichia a big kiss on the cheek, "How do you like your new school?"

She didn't release the hug, though.

"It's pretty nice, I guess. I'm kind of nervous, but my classmate seems nice," she said suspiciously. She didn't know what Raphael was planning, but it couldn't be good.

"Oh! You mean Gab! Isn't she just the cutest?" Raphael gushed as she continued squeezing her.

"Well, yeah, I guess she is," Satanichia nodded, "Wait. How do you know her? She seemed to know you at least a little."

"We've been in the same class for years!" Raphael exclaimed, far more loudly than she should have done at two in the morning. Her massive smile was still there, so Satanichia couldn't be completely sure that the girl was planning something, but she didn't survive this long by not being wary.

"What changed?" she asked carefully.

"Another teacher requested him as a student."

Raphael sounded sad, and Satanichia genuinely began to feel badly for her.

"…you mean another teacher requested _her_ as a student?"

"Oops! I thought you knew. I'm sorry, Annabel!"

"Knew what?"

Raphael smiled and began stroking her hair. If she didn't need information, she would have tried to struggle out, but her older cousin had piqued her interest.

"'Gah-bree-el' is not the proper pronunciation of Gab's name, silly," she said as casually as discussing the weather, "It's actually 'Gay-bree-uhl!'"

"What? You mean Gab has a-"

"Yep! But don't call her a boy to her face. It embarrasses her."

Satanichia knew it was a bad idea, but she kind of believed her cousin. After all, why else would Gabriel be so aggressive? Why else would the girl throw on such an angel-like act but to compensate for her lack of perceived girliness? Why else would she be so embarrassed in regular girly clothes such as her uniform at work?

"Come to think of it, that would also explain why she always wears baggy jackets," she mused to herself.

"That's right," her cousin nodded, "she's as flat as a table."

It was clear that Raphael wasn't saying it in a mean way, but it was still a mean thing to say and it kind of upset Satanichia. However, she had more on her mind, now. She had an image of the tiny Gabriel with a bulge in a very awkward place and now she couldn't get it out of her head. All she could do was worry about how she was going to hang out with the girl the next day without being a blushing mess. She felt awful. After all, if Gabriel had wanted her to know, wouldn't… she? he? … have told her?

"Anyway, I need to go to sleep. Good night," Satanichia said, relieved as she was let free.

"Bonne nuit," Raphael said with a grin as she kissed Satanichia's cheeks again. She handed one of her sodas to Satanichia before she left. She said, "I got this for you."

"Thank you."

As soon as the other girl was out of sight, she sat at the kitchen island. With no presence of mind, she opened the can of soda in her hand. An explosion of carbonation met her face as the entire content of the can blasted her. She squeaked in panic and rushed to get the can over the kitchen sink. She was fast enough to keep the drink from getting on the floor or counters, but she wasn't quite so lucky. She was absolutely covered in soda and her face and hair were both sticky. She threw the empty can away and hurried to the shower. _Damn it, Raphael_!

\0/

Gabriel was completely confused. There was something wrong with her. She didn't know what it was or how it had happened, but something was wrong with her. There was very little other explanation. Why else would she willingly volunteer to go outside on a Saturday, when she could have just spent the day inside, playing video games? She'd have to apologize to Satanichia later.

She looked at the clock and had to fight tears as she thought of the extra hours of sleep or grinding she could have fit in, but then her mind went to Annabel and she felt kind of guilty. Whether she admitted it or not, she knew why she was spending a fourth of her weekend out with another person. She felt something for that other girl, as vague as it sounded in her own head. Sympathy for the clear signs of abuse, guilt for literally tossing the girl out, some weird form of attraction; she wasn't sure what it was, but she was willing to compromise on her ideals as a lazy, good-for-nothing girl. That scared her more than she could admit.

Eleven thirty rolled around while she had a shower. She straightened her hair – why!? – and looked through her wardrobe. While most girls put a lot of importance in clothes, she never cared so much about them. She dressed for comfort. With that being said, she found herself digging through her underwear, pants, and t-shirts, trying to find something that matched. She finally settled for a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, a white t-shirt with a band logo, and her pink jacket. She slipped into some sneakers and stepped outside.

…to bump into Vignette, who was extending her arm to open the door. The victim of the bumping stared with wide eyes, having clearly expected to be waking Gabriel up.

Gabriel, however, was on a tight schedule.

"Gotta go. Busy today. See you tonight?" she said quickly as she turned, giving Vignette a quick shoulder pat and walking toward the stairs of the dorm building.

"U-uh, wait. What? Where are you going?" she could hear Vignette calling out to her, but she escaped.

She hopped playfully down the stairs about two at a time and pushed through the door at the bottom of the stairs. The cool air hit her face as the homeostasis of the warm building was abandoned. She was happy to note that it wasn't as cold as it had been normally in recent weeks, though. She dragged her feet as she lazily walked along the sidewalk. She frowned. There were so many people out and about. That was one of the few things Gabriel hated about Saturdays. The people were overwhelming, and she hated crowds. She sidestepped to avoid getting too close to the others and idly fantasized about the rapture before she realized what she was thinking about and stopped.

She browsed Reddit on her phone in an attempt to drown them all out, and when it didn't work put some earbuds into her ear to listen to music and supplement her browsing. She breathed a sigh of relief when she reached Mr. Umezu's coffee shop, but she paused when she saw that it was absolutely swarming with customers. She silently thanked God that she hadn't been forced to work on weekends at all.

She walked into the shop with her head low, hoping to avoid the attention of Mr. Umezu – and literally anyone else – but the bell on the door betrayed her.

"Welcome to Coffee Angel! I am pleased to have your vis- Oh! Hello, Ms. White!" Mr. Umezu greeted enthusiastically. Gabriel noted that a Japanese girl that was probably his daughter was serving tables with the same excitement and fervor of Mr. Umezu.

"H-hi, Master," she returned, feeling stressed out from the people surrounding her and clinging onto the familiar anchor of Mr. Umezu. Her boss smiled mirthfully at her and walked elegantly to the table she chose.

"Have you come for a cup of our delicious house blend? It's made up of five different kinds of coffee beans to attain the most delicious of flavors and fragrances."

If Gabriel wasn't mistaken, she was pretty sure Mr. Umezu was tearing up slightly. She didn't want to ruin it for him, so she nodded.

"Uh, sure. Thank you, Master," she nodded, surprised to see the sparkle in Mr. Umezu's eyes.

"But of course," he said proudly. He bowed politely and began to turn toward the counter.

Gabriel suddenly remembered why she was here to begin with.

"Wait! Could I have two please? I'm meeting someone."

"It's always heartwarming to see the youthful indulging in the joys of coffee. I'll bring you both the most delicious cups of coffee that you've ever had the opportunity to savor."

With another bow, he turned and walked to the counter, where he began to work his magic. He had a strict rule in his coffee shop that cost was irrelevant when it came to the provision of good service. He made it a goal to give every customer a one-hundred-percent fresh cup. That was probably why his coffee shop was so popular on the weekends. Gabriel was actually surprised to see such business. It was a stark contrast to the slow day she had worked after school.

The bell ringed again, and this time it was Annabel. The girl was walking awkwardly into the coffee shop. Her hair was down and just messy enough that a small strand kept falling into her face. She was wearing a striped t-shirt and an unzipped red jacket. Gabriel noted happily that her scarf was gone and her bruise almost nonexistent. Her pants were actually capris, but her boots were high enough to make up the difference on such a cold day. It took about twenty seconds before the girl noticed Gabriel at the table, but when she did, she walked over and sat across from Gabriel.

"H-hi," she said, clearly not sure what to say. Gabriel couldn't say she wasn't in the same boat.

"Hey," she returned.

An awkward silence fell. Neither girl knew what to say or how to say it, so they just sat there. It was probably Gabriel's imagination, but Annabel's face seemed awfully red. Was the girl sick? She wasn't sneezing, and she didn't seem ill, but with her red face and silence, something was up. While Gabriel fiddled with her jacket under the table – which seemed to make the other girl uneasy, for some reason – Annabel picked up a menu and began reading, probably to avoid the awkwardness. Thankfully, Mr. Umezu appeared at the table, two steaming cups of coffee in hand.

"I sincerely hope this house blend brings you both as much joy as it does for me," he said with a content sigh.

"Thank you, Master," Gabriel said with her German accent. She held in a giggle at Annabel's surprised look. She pulled some money from her pocket and tried to pay but Mr. Umezu shook his head.

"I couldn't possibly accept that, Gabriel. All I ask is that you both enjoy your delicious house blend, which uses five different coffee beans."

Gabriel nodded thankfully as Mr. Umezu walked away to serve another customer. They sipped their coffee in silence for about five minutes until Annabel broke it.

"He really likes the house blend, yeah?" she stated rhetorically. Gabriel burst into a fit of giggles. It wasn't a silent giggle. It was actually quite loud, for her. Her shoulders were shaking, and her cheeks were going to hurt, but her laughter kept on.

"I guess you could say that," she said. Mr. Umezu and his coffee fetish were a huge source of entertainment for her. Gabriel drained the last of her coffee and saw that Annabel had already finished hers.

"Are you ready?" Gabriel asked.

"Yeah. Thanks for doing this, by the way. I kind of tuned Raphi out when she was pointing things out during the drive from the airport," Annabel said sheepishly.

"Well I won't let you do that to me, "Gabriel said teasingly, "Let's go."

A goodbye to Mr. Umezu later and the pair was walking out into the cool, Autumn air. Hands in pockets, they walk through the town, with Gabriel pointing out various points of interest – that she actually googled the night before, since she didn't usually go out. She recited the trivia she had memorized and she felt pride at the impressed look Annabel was giving her. She actually had a really good memory, she just didn't waste it on studying. She preferred to study boss tactics and other topics she was actually interested in. It just so happened that this time she was interested in points of interest that she could show Annabel.

Strangely enough, she found that she actually enjoyed her time with Annabel. It was strange. She still preferred to play video games and escape from all the crowds and people, but she didn't hate doing this as much as she thought she would. The new girl pointed and asked questions, so she stayed engaged. It felt less like a chore, and more like hanging out with a friend.

Before she realized it, Gabriel had led them back to the school.

"What was that all about?" Annabel asked, "At the coffee shop? The accent."

"He, uh, he doesn't know that I speak fluent English," she explained, feeling slightly embarrassed after getting caught in her little manipulation. She clarified, "It was easier to get the job that way."

"That's so brilliant," Annabel grinned, "I should try it some time."

"You speak a foreign language?"

Gabriel couldn't say she expected that.

"French, but I don't speak it very often. Mom is from France," she said with a sad smile.

"What brought her to England?" Gabriel asked curiously. Truth be told, she wanted to find out more about Annabel. Escaping an abusive household was the first reason that came to her mind, but she didn't want to assume anything.

"Er, well, she's actually not here with me. I moved in with my cousin."

"That's rough," Gabriel sympathized. She wasn't sure if she felt sympathy for the girl because her she was separated from her mom or because she was living with Raphael of all people, but she definitely felt bad for her.

"Yeah. So what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Your parents," Annabel said as if it was obvious, "I saw you by the dorms at school, so I'm guessing you live there. Where are your parents?"

"Oh. They live in town, but I talked them into letting me live in a dorm instead of staying home. It's been nice."

"It must be nice, living alone like that," she said with a longing chuckle.

"I could show you my dorm, if you want," Gabriel offered. It wasn't until after she made the offer that she realized what she had done. She internally panicked and prayed that the girl would decline.

"R-really? That would be great."

 _Dang it!_

"Uh, just one second. Gotta make a call really quick," she said, turning away and quickly walking about twenty yards away and getting her phone. She dialed as quickly as lightning and clenched her teeth in anticipation.

"Come on! Answer!"

"Gabri-"

"Vignette! Where are you right now?" she asked frantically.

"I'm in your room," the other girl said, sounding slightly angry, "You made me promise to come and play that MMO with you today."

Gabriel let out a sigh of relief.

"Whew, good. I'll, uh, be there soon," she said, "and I'm bringing someone!"

"Wait, what? Bringing someo-"

Gabriel hung up and walked back over to Annabel.

"Sorry about that. Uh, the dorms are right over this way," she gestured.

 **\0/**

Gabriel led them to a door on the second floor and seemed to hesitate for a moment. Satanichia knew that she was essentially a social potato, but she felt horrible for being unable to keep up a conversation. She just felt so awkward. This was the first person that she had ever associated with outside of school and her video games. In addition to the newness of the situation, what Raphael had told her about the previous night was weighing on her mind. It wasn't a big deal, but she still found herself more aware than she should have been of the oversized jacket Gabriel was wearing.

She had managed to keep up during the tour, though. She made sure to ask every question she could think of, if only to avoid the silence from the coffee shop. The other girl had answered every question, almost as if she was a human Wikipedia article. It was quite impressive, honestly. Satanichia could even say that she knew the city a lot better than she had mere hours ago. She could locate most pubs, she knew where the clothing stores were, she knew where a local cinema was, and she could find her way from any of those points to the school. From there, she could easily find her way home. She was definitely thankful to the small girl that had offered the tour.

Even though they had gotten along fine, however, it was a huge surprise when Gabriel had offered to show Satanichia her dorm. It wasn't like she expected anything to happen, but after the revelation the previous night of Gabriel's gender – she still wasn't sure if Raphael was just messing with her – she still felt a little shy to be going to the dorm room. She swallowed her shyness, however, and instead embraced the excitement of someone inviting her over. She gladly accepted.

Now they were standing in front of the door and Gabriel said, very loudly, "This is my dorm. 207."

She looked to Gabriel, who pulled a key from her pocket and put it into the lock. She gently opened the door…

…and what Satanichia saw was flooring. The entire dorm was immaculately clean. Not a single pencil seemed to be out of place. This honestly wasn't how she pictured the dorm of Gabriel. She had expected the girl's dorm to be at least a little messy. However, this was perfect. The dorm looked better than it could have before a student moved in.

"Wow. This is really nice," she marveled, "The faculty must be really strict."

"I'm just a neat person, I guess."

"I can tell," she said with a smile as she followed the blonde into the dorm. Gabriel sat on her bed and pointed around the room, noting which pieces of furniture were part of the dorm and which she had provided. Satanichia was surprised to note that Gabriel didn't have a lot of personal decorations. The only things which could probably be considered personal were the laptop on her bed and the backpack in the corner. She looked around, noting the lack of a T.V. or anything else similar that most people their age used for entertainment. Curious, she asked, "So, what do you do for fun here? Is there, like, a game room with pool tables or something?"

"No. The faculty don't like games that encourage gambling," Gabriel answered, "I just, um, watch movies on my laptop."

She seemed a little nervous about that question, but Satanichia ignored it. She would be just as nervous if another girl was in her room, although probably for different reasons.

"What kind of movies do you watch?" she asked.

"I'll show you my library," Gabriel said, opening up her laptop, "In fact, want to watch one? It's still pretty early."

"Uh, sure," she nodded, "Are you sure you want to? I don't want to overstay my welcome."

"Yeah, come on," Gabriel said, patting on the bed, gesturing for Satanichia to sit with her. She complied.

Two hours later, the two girls were lying on their bellies side by side watching the ending credits to _The Empire Strikes Back_ , both of them fully engrossed in the movie.

"That one's my favorite," Satanichia swooned. She was a huge _Star Wars_ fan. She could even find things to appreciate about the weaker additions to the franchise.

"I think _Jedi_ is the best one. Wanna watch it next?" the girl offered, surprising Satanichia. It was still somewhat early, about 4:00 p.m., but she didn't want to be too much of a burden. Besides, Gerard and Lucille would be expecting her soon, so she would be better off making her way home.

"Sorry, I should probably head back home. My aunt and uncle will expect me home for dinner soon," she apologized.

"Right. How about tomorrow?" Gabriel asked. If her face was anything to go by, it seemed Gabriel was as surprised to have offered as she was to receive the offer.

"Uh, sure. Sounds fun."

She stood up and grabbed her jacket, yawning and stretching to get rid of some of the stiffness from lying down for two hours straight. She reached down on the bed to grab her cell phone, only to notice it was in Gabriel's hands. Gabriel typed something on it and handed it back.

"My number is in there. Text me whenever," she said without a hint of regrets after going through Satanichia's phone, "and you might want to set up a pass code on the lock screen."

"R-right. I will," she stammered awkwardly as she walked to the door, "Uh, thanks. For everything."

"Yep," Gabriel turned back to her laptop, "Night."

"Good night."

An hour later, Satanichia felt less lonely than she had ever felt when clicking "Log In."


	10. BRB IRL AGGRO!

**Hey guys! Sorry about the wait on this one. Actually, the original draft I wrote had the tour from the previous chapter taking place on Sunday and an accidental slumber party between Gabriel and Satanichia taking place. The chapter was going to transition into the "first day of a new school" chapter (this chapter) and it would have been 12,000 - ish words long. I didn't want to overload one chapter with a third of the story's length, so I changed it up and this chapter is the "first day of a new school chapter."**

 **Now, the warnings! This chapter is all over the place. It will move around a lot. It's like that because I wanted to present Satanichia's first day from multiple points of view. It spans most of her first day - or at least half of it - and it's a little on the longer side. There is some... slightly suggestive content near the end. It's nothing explicit, but it is there.**

 **Please, enjoy, and thank you for reading!**

The coin idly twirled between the fingers on the guild registrar's left hand. She propped her head up on the wooden desk with her right hand, a bored expression on her face. Her wings flapped absently behind her, creating a small breeze. She yawned. Her ash-colored skin was charred and scarred. Her eye's were as black as night. A scar in the shape of a twisted smile was slashed from one of her ears to the other.

"You lazybody! Why don't you sit up and do your job?" the seraphim beside her nagged from her upright position. Unlike the demon, she was prim and proper, with perfect posture and a dignified air about her. Her feathery wings were still – yet rustling with the breeze – and her halo was perfectly straight. Her bronzed skin was glowing softly, and her deep brown eyes focused coolly on the demon. With a sweeping motion, her hand knocked the demon's left arm aside and the demon faceplanted the shared desk.

"Oy! You bitch! What was that for?" the demon complained.

"Can't you see that these adventurers are interested in forming a guild?" the angel asked rhetorically.

The demon turned and stared at the ragtag group. An angel, infuriatingly pure like her counterpart, a demon, staggeringly powerful and confident, and another angel, nauseatingly weak and frail.

It was certainly true that she was ignoring the group. Their bickering was getting quite annoying, frankly. Her counterpart had an iron will to be capable of not following in her footsteps. It was probably because of her predictable angelic nature.

It was frustrating to be tethered to an angel for her assignment. She could have been sent by the forces of Hell to fight the army of traitors with her bare hands, and she would have been content, but instead she was stuck as a "diplomatic representative" with the angel beside her. It was supposedly a better show of neutrality for the guilds that were open to both angels and demons if there was a representative from both races at the registry.

"I see it. They haven't shut up in hours. The demon there purchased the form and officially formed their guild and the other two have been harassing her ever since," she retorted in a bored manner. Sure, the verbal abuse the demon was receiving had been entertaining at first, but the guild registrar had quickly become frustrated when she realized they were just going to argue in close proximity to her without any clear sign of stopping in the near future.

"Oh? Harassing her? Why is that?"

The demon registrar just giggled.

"…and that's why I chose this guild name," Satanichia finished.

Vignette had to admit, the guild name her new friend chose was… _not what she would have chosen._ She could personally think of a dozen cool-sounding guild names, but not once would " _Bringers of Snuggles"_ have crossed her mind. She was fine with Satanichia being the leader of the guild. She was even okay with the girl choosing the name. She had just hoped for something that sounded more badass.

"You're such an idiot," Gabriel said with a facepalm that she had been holding for five minutes.

The guild emblem on her character – a rainbow sprouting from the background behind a fluffy teddy bear, which was surrounded by hearts – served to mock both her and Vignette as their characters donned the tabards. Vignette was embarrassed because her character, which normally wore dark, crimson robes, was an eyesore, with her bright pink and rainbow-colored tabard. Gabriel's at least looked fine, since she was in white and golden ornamental clothing, but she didn't like the childish appearance it gave her tall, curvy character. Satanichia was the only one wearing her tabard with pride, despite its contrast to her obsidian armor.

"It's… creative," Vignette commented.

"You guys told me to buy the guild registration form from the NPCs!" Satanichia countered defensively.

"You're lucky the form was so expensive and that I couldn't just buy another," Gabriel said with a low voice. She sounded so disappointed. Vignette leaned over and rubbed her friend's back comfortingly.

"It's not that bad of a name," Vignette lied, trying to make Satanichia feel a little better about what had happened.

"We farmed the gold all day," Gabriel complained flatly, "just for you to name us the _Bringers of Snuggles_."

"It's fine, Gab!" Vignette tried to cheer her up, "I'm sure there are worse guild names."

"Y-yeah! Remember the " _Raimbow Warriors?"_ Satanichia argued.

Vignette and Gabriel shivered in unison.

"Point taken," Gabriel nodded, "Ready for some grinding?"

"Let's go," Satanichia cheerfully confirmed.

-.-

Vignette rolled over in the bed and grabbed her phone, silencing the alarm and sitting up in the bed. She fought the urge to crawl back into the warm blanket. Staying up until four in the morning had been a huge mistake, and she had known it in the moment. She had tried to interrupt Gabriel and Satanichia to go to bed, but Gabriel had just ignored her, and Satanichia had reluctantly stayed online with them. Vignette had a feeling that Satanichia was easily convinced into just about anything. She mentally prepared herself and rolled to her side, gently shaking Gabriel. She tried not to get distracted by how peaceful and beautiful the girl looked while sleeping, despite the little flaws like drool dripping from her mouth or disheveled hair.

"Gab, wake up," she said softly in a croaky morning voice. The blonde groaned and turned away from her, pulling the blanket up above her head. Vignette shook Gabriel more intensely, ignoring the cries of desperate pleading.

"Geh Weg," Gabriel grunted, shoving Vignette away.

She calmly stood from the bed, shivering from the sudden loss of the blanket, and went to the refrigerator. She grabbed a bottle of water and crept toward Gabriel. With a sigh, she upturned the bottle of water above her slumbering friend.

The result was instant. A mass of blanket and Gabriel leapt from the bed as if it was made of molten magma and both the blanket and Gabriel's t-shirt found themselves on the floor about five meters away. Vignette ignored the angry glare from her friend and tossed the uniform she had prepared for her the previous night to her. Gabriel unleashed a torrent of verbal abuse that didn't stop even as she got dressed.

Vignette sighed.

 **\0/**

"I hate you," Gabriel commented as the two walked into the main building of the school. Vignette reached over and flicked the girl's nose with her left hand. She would have said something in response to attempt to steer Gabriel toward a path of righteousness – and neatness – but she was frankly too tired. It took all of her remaining energy to even remain standing at this point. She was currently going on three hours of sleep, and so was Gabriel. Both were bound to be cranky.

She wasn't even surprised when she arrived at Ms. Weiss's room and Gabriel split off and went the opposite direction. The girl was obviously not feeling up to keeping her little act up for the teacher, so she was probably heading for the nurse's office to sleep it off. It wasn't the first time the blonde had pulled an all-nighter. Vignette would be lying if she said she wasn't considering going to the nurse's office herself, but her innate sense of responsibility was already nagging at her for even considering such a dishonest act.

She walked into Ms. Weiss's classroom and sat at her usual desk. The desk on her left was obviously empty, but to her right, there was a surprise. The usually empty desk was not empty at all. There was a student there that she had never seen before. A student with red hair in simple twin loops, brown eyes that almost seemed red because of the bags under her eyes and the makeup used to hide them, and an extremely uncomfortable look in the school uniform. The most surprising thing of all, in Vignette's eyes, was the bat-shaped hairclip in the girl's hair. It was an extremely brave thing to wear in a Christian school, and Vignette gladly welcomed the idea of having a fellow openly non-Christian student in attendance. As she opened her mouth to greet the girl, who was looking away from everyone, in a very shy manner, she was interrupted by Ms. Weiss.

"Hello, class," she greeted with a nod, "I would like everyone to welcome our new classmate, Ms. McDowell."

All eyes turned to the other girl and Vignette didn't know what to think. The girl seemed to visibly flinch as soon as people began to look at her. She didn't even look up from her sleeves on her desk when she said, "T-thank you, Ms. Weiss."

Her shyness was overwhelming. As the rest of the class echoed in a warm, sincere, "Welcome, Ms. McDowell!" they quickly cut into silence with a discipline that only a strict religious background could drill into a child. The girl beside her shrank into herself and Vignette felt such pity for the girl.

"I trust that you'll all make her feel welcome," she said with a firm, yet loving smile. It was true that Ms. Weiss was like a strict older sister to most of her students, even Vignette. Her open Satanism – which she also rebelled against – didn't even stop the woman from being nice to her. It was kind of strange. After the teacher had found out that she was Gabriel's best friend, she had been extra assertive in associating with Vignette. It had definitely helped support the curiosity and various rumours regarding Ms. Weiss and Gabriel in Vignette's head. The two seemed to be weird about each other, in some indescribable way. Even now, she struggled to get the mental picture of a love affair between the two out of her mind. After she wrote the day's verses on the whiteboard, she walked over to Vignette, who was flipping through her school-issued _Holy Bible_ and bookmarking the appropriate verses for study. Sure, she wasn't a Christian, but she was definitely an astute student.

"Vignette," Ms. Weiss used her first name – she was the only student whom the teacher greeted with their first name, "Where's Ms. White?"

Vignette noticed the girl in the seat next to her, who had previously been frantically searching through her own bible, clearly unfamiliar with the book, perk up at the question. She was trying to overhead the conversation, and she wasn't being so subtle about it, despite her clear efforts to do so. If Ms. Weiss noticed, she didn't make any indication.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Weiss. I think she wasn't feeling well, so she went to the nurse," Vignette lied for her friend smoothly. Ms. Weiss nodded and smiled at Vignette.

"Thank you very much. I'll have to go check on her after class. It's important to ensure she's resting."

 **\0/**

Satanichia was panicking. She was running on no sleep, which was fine for her, but the uniform she had received had been a little off in size. The shirt and blazer had fit well, sure, but the skirt was way too short. The waist was a fine fit, but she couldn't crouch or bend too much without revealing more of her legs than she had ever been comfortable revealing. She had gone to the uniform man's room – his name was Paul, apparently – [TQ1] but he had told her – while looking everywhere but at her - that they would have to special order the new skirts and it would take about three days to get them in.

She was extremely nervous as it was because of her first actual day at a new school, but the uniform problem made it all the worse for her. She felt eyes on her legs that weren't actually on her legs. Looking around, she realized that no one was actually staring at her, and it was a good feeling. She had already resolved to avoid standing out as much as possible in the new school, after all. She sighed in relief when she arrived to Ms. Weiss's classroom and no one else was in there. She didn't want any eyes on her as she walked in. She sat at a desk in the very back of the room and pulled out the copy of the Bible she had been given with her other textbooks. She skimmed through it to try and familiarize herself with it as much as she could before class started. She already knew she was going to be horrible at the class, so any preparation she could get would help.

After twenty minutes of losing herself in the Bible, she looked up and was surprised to see the classroom was almost full. The only empty seats left were the ones on her left and the single seat on her right. The other students occasionally glanced at her, but they left her well enough alone. Her concern, however, was the absence of a certain blonde. She was watching the doorway without realizing it, just hoping for her new – _what? Friend?_ – to show up. Her Bible was now closed and she was sitting nervously. When Ms. Weiss had walked into the room, and Gabriel was still absent, Satanichia began to worry. She barely even heard the teacher's voice.

"…welcome our new classmate, Ms. McDowell."

"T-thank you, Ms. Weiss," she returned quietly. All eyes were on her and her fists were clenching under her desk. This was the part where the bullying began at her last school. A whispered name or a thrown wad of paper; the specifics didn't matter. Satanichia prepared for the worst and closed her eyes tightly, awaiting the first signs of mockery from the students. When none came, she opened her eyes and glanced around the room quickly. Ms. Weiss gave her a look of silent pity and nodded.

"I trust that you'll all make her feel welcome," the teacher said loudly, drawing the attention back onto herself.

She let out a sigh of relief and began flipping through the unfamiliar religious text in her hand, struggling to find the verses the teacher had written on the whiteboard. She knew how to navigate it well enough, but she often had to re-open the table of contents to find out where a specific book was within the Bible. It was a whole new world for her. She had never even touched a Bible before, and now she was expected to study it academically? It was madness.

"…where's Ms. White?"

She hadn't even noticed Ms. Weiss walk over to the girl's desk beside her. She perked up when she heard about Gabriel, though. She briefly wondered if the teacher referred to all students by their last names.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Weiss. I think she wasn't feeling well, so she went to the nurse," the student said quietly. Satanichia felt guilty for being so selfish. She vaguely remembered where the nurse's office was from her tour of the school and decided to visit Gabriel after class. She tossed the idea in her head and wondered if it would be creepy or awkward.

 **\0/**

"Should I come with you?" Vignette asked. She didn't want the teacher – or Gabriel – to find herself in a strange situation. Being alone in a room with a sleeping student surrounded by rumours related to their relationship could further propagate said rumours.

"No, thank you. I actually have a favor to ask of you."

Ms. Weiss was smiling. It couldn't be anything major, so Vignette nodded without thinking. She almost missed the glance from the teacher to the new girl – Ms. McDowell – beside her, but she followed the glance and saw that the new girl seemed to be lost in her own head as she searched through the religious text on her desk. Ms. Weiss lowered her voice.

"I'd like for you to reach out to our new student. She seems to have suffered in ways that have stunted her social growth, and I think a friend would help her tremendously. We both know how much it helped Gabriel to befriend you."

Not even noticing the slip of tongue, Vignette tilted her head and asked "W-what do you mean?"

Her lie was apparently not very convincing.

"I'm not blind, Vignette. I know that if it wasn't for you, Ms. White would never complete any of her schoolwork, nor would she attend the mandatory chapel on Sunday mornings."

"B-but I'm not even a Christian!" Vignette kept her voice to a whisper, "Why would I force her to go to chapel?"

"Because out of all my students, you have the purest heart and the most powerful sense of responsibility."

"W-what? N-no, I do not," Vignette tried to argue, but she couldn't even believe her own argument. She didn't even know why she was so defensive. Maybe she just didn't like being labelled in such a way, even though Gabriel had long ago labelled her in much the same way. Ms. Weiss was fighting back laughter, a rare sight in the classroom. Thankfully, the rest of the students seemed to be distracted with the assignment verses and their own conversations.

"Right. Well, would you be willing to help her out?"

"Sure. I'd love to, but why me? I'm not very socially outgoing, myself," Vignette asked.

"Well, I didn't realize until now, but I have a feeling she isn't… isn't a Christian. She's wearing a bat-shaped hair clip, and she seems completely unfamiliar with the Bible in her hands. I thought it would be comforting for her to meet someone of… similar religious background."

"Yeah. I can see how that would help. Of course, I'll do what I can," she said with a smile.

"Thank you," Ms. Weiss said with a wide smile.

The teacher walked up to the front of the room and began the lecture.

 **\0/**

"…and that is the gist of the debate, as well as a few of the verses supporting and/or condemning homosexual relations from the Old and New Testaments. I leave your personal beliefs about the subject matter to you, but it's important to acknowledge the other side of the argument."

A bell chimed throughout the building.

"Next Monday, we'll be having team debates between three-person teams. I will assign each team a topic tomorrow, and you will have the rest of the week for research. Any intellectual passages may be used, but associate them with theological evidence, as well. Class dismissed."

Ms. Weiss wasn't even interrupted by students filing out of the classroom. She was apparently pretty popular, since all the students remained seated until she finished talking. Satanichia could definitely see why. Not only was the teacher beautiful, but she presented the class material in a thoughtful, neutral, and intelligent manner that was friendly even to a non-Christian such as herself. The way she commanded the classroom was absolutely amazing. She wasn't some teacher above the students. She was a respected, loved figure among the populace.

Satanichia stood from her desk and put her books neatly into her backpack, trying to remember where the nurse's office was. She was interrupted by a hand on her shoulder.

"H-hey, Ms. McDowell," a voice came from behind her. She knew what was about to happen all-too-well. She was going to be stuffed into a locker, or thrown into a trashcan, or her books were going to be taken from her. She knew well what to expect. It was a daily occurrence at her old school, and she didn't expect this school to be any different. Her muscles were tense as she turned around to face her fate. Her eyes were squeezed shut, so she hardly noticed the other student's hand leaving her shoulder. When nothing had happened after a few seconds, she opened her eyes. The other girl seemed confused. It was the girl she had been sitting next to in class.

The girl raised a hand in front of Satanichia, and she fought the urge to wince, but failed slightly. The girl just waved a hand in front of her face.

"A-are you okay?" the girl asked. Satanichia didn't know what to do. She wasn't used to someone showing concern for her, so she realized quickly what had to be going on. The girl was trying to get her to lower her defenses so that she could get her all the better when she made her move. She wasn't going to fall for that, though. She had a plan. She turned and ran away as fast as she could.

It was pure luck that Satanichia wound up right in front of the nurse's office a few minutes later. A note was on the door, which was slightly ajar. The note was a simple _"gone to lunch!"_ note from the nurse. She figured it wouldn't be a problem if she stepped in to check on Gabriel and left quickly. Surely there was no rule about that. She stepped closer to the door to hear a familiar voice.

"…because I love you."

It was the voice of Ms. Weiss. It sounded warm, yet the sternness she had come to expect from the teacher was still there. She was thoroughly confused at this point. She didn't know for whom Ms. Weiss could be using such heavy words. Did her husband work in the school, or something? Satanichia didn't _remember_ a wedding band on the teacher's finger, but a lot of married women opted out of wearing them, so that possibly didn't matter anyway.

"I love you, too," the voice of Gabriel floated out the door. This was getting awkward. Satanichia didn't consider herself an eavesdropper, but she realized that she could be hearing something possibly career-ending. She didn't want her first day at her new school to be a day wrapped in some big controversy, but she couldn't exactly unhear it. She decided to walk away and try to come back and see Gabriel at lunch instead. She could process this information later. Before she could get more than a few meters away from the door, however, it opened.

Ms. Weiss seemed surprised to see her.

"M-Ms. Weiss! I was just, uh, checking up on Gabriel," she explained hastily. She didn't want the girl to know what she had overheard, but she knew if she insisted that she had heard nothing, it would just exacerbate the problem. She could still play the blissful ignorance part, so she decided to keep that up. Ms. Weiss's face brightened.

"Ah. It's good to see friends showing concern for one another. She seems to be feeling a little better. Go on in."

She nodded and fought the urge to watch the teacher walk away. She was already getting bullied, and she didn't want to add "pervert" to the list of names she would inevitable be called.

She stepped in the room and marveled at the sudden contrast from the outer hallway. While the outer hallway was more of a – for lack of better words – "churchy" decorative feel, the nurse's room was very much like a pediatrician's office. There were bright, colorful magazines and pictures painted everywhere. Even the screens between the few beds were painted with colorful paintings. Of course, there were normal medical posters that would normally be in a doctor's office, showing anatomy and warnings against smoking and unsafe sex. It seemed the nurse here didn't insist on abstinence only, like most religious schools would.

Only one of the beds in the room had the curtain closed, so Satanichia walked up to it, but she didn't know what to do. She couldn't really knock on a cloth curtain, could she? She looked around for some way to announce her attention without being awkward when Gabriel called out.

"Hello?"

"H-hey, just coming to check up on you."

"Annabel?" Gabriel asked.

"Y-yeah."

"Come on in," Gabriel instructed. Satanichia complied, opening the curtain. She had expected to see Gabriel in a hospital gown. She was kind of relieved to see she was wrong. The girl was just wearing the normal school uniform. She definitely looked better than Satanichia expected. Perhaps she had just needed some rest?

"H-how are you feeling?" she asked carefully. She didn't want to treat into awkward territory.

Gabriel didn't respond, though. Satanichia saw that the girl was staring at her with wide eyes. She rubbed her face, thinking maybe she had something on it. She tilted her head and followed the girl's eyes. Down. She checked her blazer, but it was perfectly straight, as was her tie. She glanced back and followed the girl's eyes further. Down. She checked her shirt and made sure it was well-tucked in. She kept following the girl's glance and finally remembered her skirt dilemma. She quickly tried to stretch the skirt as close to her knees as she could get it, despite knowing it wouldn't work.

"I'm good!" Gabriel said, a little too loud. Her face was extremely red, and Satanichia tried to chalk it up to her illness, but deep down she realized the truth. She was a distraction, with her skirt reaching less than half the distance to her knees. It was embarrassing, and Gabriel was probably judging her pretty hard for wearing something like this skirt.

"T-that's good! I h-heard you were sick and wanted to check on you," she explained lamely.

"R-right. I'm actually not sick at all," the girl laughed awkwardly, "I just wanted some sleep."

Judging by the shocked expression on Gabriel's face, she hadn't meant to say that. Satanichia felt even worse.

"G-good. Sleep is important, after all," she said while still struggling with her skirt. She tried to ignore Gabriel's eyes on her legs, but she couldn't. She shook her head and mumbled, "I'm s-sorry. I didn't know the skirt would be too short for me, and it's going to take a few days to get replacement skirts."

She stood behind the small table next to Gabriel's bed, thankful that her legs were hidden enough to stop being a distraction.

"It's fine," Gabriel reassured her, "It's not your fault."

"R-right, well. I should be going to class? I have to go to Physical Education," she said awkwardly.

"Oh. I have P.E. next too," Gabriel commented.

"Will I see you there?" Satanichia asked.

"No. I never go to that class," Gabriel explained, "The teacher doesn't really take attendance, and between you and me, she's something of a pervert."

 _Oh no._

"Oh, uh. Well, see you?"

"Y-yeah, see you," Gabriel said while clearly trying not to stare as Satanichia moved from behind the table.

She felt Gabriel's eyes on her as she walked away, so she walked a little faster. For some reason, it was a little exciting to be stared at in such a way by Gabriel, but it didn't mean she didn't feel embarrassed. On the way out of the room, she almost bumped into someone in the hall.

"Oh! Sor-" she began.

"Annabel! Salut!" the voice of Raphael filled the hallway, overpowering even the voices of the students that were still having casual conversations with their friends. Satanichia felt herself being pulled into a tight hug, relieved that even her cousin wouldn't try anything inappropriate at school.

"H-hi, Raphi," she greeted back, "I uh, I have to get to class."

"Oh! I'm just checking on little Gab," Raphael said with her warm smile. Satanichia was almost worried for Gabriel. She felt relieved when she was released from her cousin's hold.

"Right, well. See you later?" she asked.

"À bientôt!" Raphael called out to her as she left.

As she walked away, she could swear her cousin was hiding something behind her back.

 **\0/**

Gabriel was surprised. Ms. Weiss was to be expected, but her next visitor had been a complete curveball. She had overheard a girl walking into the room and it was Annabel. After a long and awkward moment in which both girls had stumbled over their words and actions, Gabriel was completely confused. She had found herself almost swooning in Annabel's presence. She hadn't realized it before, but Annabel was _hot_. Her hair wasn't elegant, but it was pretty in a different way. It almost had a bad-girl style to it with the bat hairpin. Her eyes – probably because of the makeup – almost seemed to have a reddish-violet hue to them. The way she had smiled had given the appearance of a fang. All-in-all, she was gorgeous. Any self-respecting straight woman could admit that Annabel was attractive. It was an objective thing.

That argument could easily defend Gabriel's thoughts since the weekend about Annabel's looks, but it could certainly not explain what had just happened. There was no other way to describe it: she had ogled her new classmate. There was apparently a mistake in the measurement for her uniform – Gabriel's fault if so – or a mistake in the manufacturing of the uniform. In other words, Gabriel had been distracted by Annabel's thighs. They weren't thighs that most teenagers would refer to as "thicc," but they were smooth and almost whispered a silent promise of more.

 _Wow. Never knew I was so poetic_ , she thought.

That was just as unnerving. She wasn't a poetic person, so why was she inspired to be poetic for Annabel's sake? Logically, a part of her knew that she was attracted to the girl, but, emotionally, she couldn't let that be the case. The problem wasn't her school. There were plenty of openly – and closeted – gay people at her school. The problem was her family. If she was gay, there was no way her family would accept that. Best case, she would be pulled out of the school and shipped to a boarding school far away from home. Worst case, she would be punished even more severely by her father in other ways. She didn't know what he was fully capable of, but according to her older sister, it was quite a lot.

Ignoring the consequences of being gay, Gabriel honestly couldn't say that she _was_ gay. She just didn't _feel_ gay. She knew quite a few gay and bisexual people, and all of them had said that when they realized they were gay, that it was obvious to them. It certainly wasn't like that for Gabriel. The more she thought about women that were objectively attractive, the more she realized she _wasn't_ attracted to them. Vignette was a wonderful example. She was obviously very pretty, and she and Gabriel had changed together several times, but her body – even mostly nude - had never distracted Gabriel like Annabel's. Annabel was probably just a fluke.

Of course, the part she wasn't admitting to herself was that she wasn't attracted to any particular _men,_ either.

Her analysis of her _totally heterosexual self_ was interrupted when another visitor came barging into the nurse's office and opened her curtain without a single word before it was open. Gabriel almost cursed when she saw her visitor's identity.

"Gab! Bonjour!" Raphael exclaimed, and Gabriel gasped for air as her available oxygen was cut off by Raphael's breasts. This was more proof that she wasn't gay, if anything, so she wasn't as annoyed with the girl as she would have been. She definitely wasn't aroused from being smothered in Raphael's generous breasts, so she couldn't be gay. She finally managed to get out some muffled speech.

"Get your boobs out of my face, Raphi," she said flatly.

"Oh, but I miss you so much!" Raphael whined. The whining seemed to be both genuine and fake, so Gabriel presumed that the sadist was both honest and planning something. She only hoped it wasn't at her expense.

"What do you want, Raphi?" she asked carefully. She almost believed the look of hurt on the other girl's face.

"What do you mean?" she asked with a frown, "Can't I just visit my best friend? We've hardly seen each other all year."

"You're always planning something," she said with a sigh. She would have had more patience, but she was tired. Then she noticed what was in Raphael's hand. She tilted her head and asked, with wide eyes, "Is that a-?"

"Oh, oui! That's actually what I need your help with," she said with a smile.

 _Knew it._

"Do you have P.E. with Annabel, Gab?"

 _Oh no._ Gabriel frowned. She had a bad feeling about this, but it was either her or Annabel that would incur Raphael's wrath, and she was _way_ too tired to deal with it.

 **\0/**

Satanichia smiled in relief. It had taken a lot longer than she was proud to admit for her to remember where the locker rooms leading to the gymnasium were. She had finally found the girl's locker room and mostly shaken off the awkwardness of her earlier conversation with Gabriel. She had received a note to excuse her tardiness since she had to settle into a locker in the room and find the room, so she wasn't in a huge hurry. She placed her new physical fitness uniform into the locker and prayed to whatever God her she believed in – she was having a crisis of faith in the situation with Dougal – that the uniform would actually fit.

She normally would have felt pretty embarrassed to be undressing so openly, but she was thankfully alone in the dressing room. She slipped her blazer off and put it on one of the hangers provided in the locker room. She hung it neatly up in her tall locker. She unbuttoned her shirt and slipped it in there on a different hanger next to the blazer. She slipped her shoes off and set her socks neatly over the shoes in the bottom of the locker. She dropped her skirt and put it in an upper compartment. She fumbled around with her bra until it finally unlatched, and she traded it for the sports bra in her locker. Before she could actually put it on, however, she heard the door to the hallway – which was right through a bottleneck hallway across from her locker – open and close. She briefly covered her chest before she remembered that most girls aren't so modest in a school locker room and she forced herself to uncover.

She immediately regretted the decision when Gabriel White walked into the locker room and stopped at the entrance. She blushed, but she knew that it would only be a big deal if she made it a big deal, so she turned away and continued getting dressed. The sports bra slipped on pretty easily and her twins were secured.

"H-hi, Annabel," Gabriel said conversationally.

"H-hey," she said back, trying to postpone changing into the briefs she had bought just for P.E. class to avoid thigh chafing if she had to run. She was surprised to see Gabriel walk up to the locker directly next to hers.

"So, this is your locker," Gabriel said, avoiding her eyes. She could understand. She was doing the same thing, looking into her locker instead of at the other girl.

"Y-yeah. I thought you don't go to gym class?" she asked.

"I, uh. Didn't want you to have to go to class alone on your first day," the other girl said, and Satanichia forgot all about her embarrassment for a moment and looked at Gabriel with admiration.

"T-thanks," she said quietly, biting the bullet and slipping her panties off. She thought she heard a squeak coming from Gabriel's locker, but she knew it had to be her imagination. She slipped into the briefs and pulled the athletic shorts on over them. The shorts were almost longer than her skirt, and that made her feel very uncomfortable.

"No problem. Stick with me out there. Coach Henderson is such a perv, but she usually leaves me alone."

The rustle of cloth told her that Gabriel seemed to be way less embarrassed about getting undressed in front of others.

"Uh, thanks."

She never would have expected to hold a conversation, no matter how strange it felt to do so, in a girl's locker room.

 _Wait._

Satanichia quickly realized something. Something that popped into her head against her mental consent. Something that she would have gladly forgotten completely about, but because she couldn't, it was going to eat away at her if she didn't satiate her curiosity. When her peripheral vision told her that Gabriel had removed her school-issued skirt, she chanced a brief glance in the blonde's direction. It was time to see if Raphael was telling the-

 _Holy fuck. It's huge!_

She could feel heat rising in her face and other parts of her body that she was embarrassed to admit. Her legs were suddenly unable to support her weight and her knees buckled. Her head was feeling woozy and dizziness hit her like a truck. All she could manage was a short gasp.

By some miracle, she didn't lose consciousness, but the ground still rose to meet her. She reached out to try and catch herself on the bench in front of the lockers, or even the lockers themselves, but her hands grabbed only hair. She didn't currently have the fine motor control to grab much, in any case. She was both lucky and unlock in that moment. She felt soft arms wrap around her torso and catch her. Gabriel managed to prevent her from hitting the ground, so she was definitely thankful, but, unfortunately, the blonde had forgotten something very crucial. Satanichia was bigger than her, if only by a bit. Both girls fell to the ground, in the end, but Gabriel was the one who made contact.

Satanichia found herself instead lying on top of the flustered girl, who seemed to not be in pain, but was instead embarrassed and shy about the situation just like she was. In fact, both girls were about as red as Satanichia's hair and both laughed nervously, not having the slightest idea of what to do in that moment. It was only made worse by the close proximity of their faces. Their noses were touching, and their eyes were locked.

Satanichia just stayed frozen in place, wondering if this was really happening. She may have been a socially awkward person, but even _she_ could feel the sexual tension in the air. It had come out of nowhere, despite the crippling social anxiety that plagued her at all times. She just wasn't very good at interacting with people, and she didn't know how to fix it. Because of her inability to speak to people, this whole situation was extremely overwhelming, and she couldn't even _mentally_ process it, much less physically. Her mind went over every movie and book she had ever seen and read with this scene written into it as she tried to formulate _some_ kind of a plan. She knew exactly what the main character of a movie or book would do, but she also knew that it would be a stupid decision. She didn't want to make a complete idiot of herself on her first day. Well, not any more than she already had.

Her logic made sense in her head, but Gabriel on the ground below her created an inner conflict within Satanichia. She didn't look mad at all. She just looked embarrassed. She wasn't even pulling away, not even a little. Her eyes were wide, but her pupils were dilated. Satanichia caught her lick her lips a little bit, but even Gabriel seemed unaware of this. She felt the smaller arms resting on her hips, but they weren't pushing her away. The signs were all there. She knew exactly what to do.

-.-

Vignette walked to the girl's locker room with a purpose. She was tardy for class because the coach had asked her to deliver a letter to another teacher, but her goal was a more personal one. She had been tasked to befriend the new girl – whose name was Annabel, she had learned – and she was going to do it. Supposedly Gabriel had already reached out to the girl and they were becoming friends, but Vignette could _not_ allow the irresponsible teen to rub off on the new girl. She had to step in and be the voice of reason for both of them. It was her job in her friendship with Gab, and it would be her job with Annabel as well. Although, she had to admit, Annabel seemed to be a decent student, if her performance in class that morning was anything to go by.

 _Who knows? Maybe she'll be a good influence on Gabriel too?_

She pushed open the locker room door, stepped around the corner, and a surprised squeak popped out of her mouth. Gabriel was writhing on the floor in a clearly sexual pose, and on top of her was the new girl! Their eyes were locked and if Vignette had to guess, they were about to kiss. She had never realized Gabriel was attracted to other girls. She couldn't imagine the girl's family would approve, having met them only briefly. They didn't seem to notice her. She didn't want to watch this unnoticed, but what could one even say to interrupt this moment?

Then she noticed a suspicious bulge where it should not be and her eyes widened. Was Gabriel pretending to be a boy to seduce the new girl? That was a new low, even for Gabriel. She was normally at worst lazy, and her lies only supported that character trait, but to lie in order to defile an innocent girl? Vignette couldn't stand for that. She had to end this. She backtracked to the main door of the locker room and opened it before slamming it loudly to announce her presence. She heard a loud shuffling of limbs and clothing and smiled in victory.

She walked around the corner and saw the girls, each at their respective lockers. She was in luck. Her locker was right in the middle of theirs. Both girls were extremely flushed, but she pretended not to notice. She didn't want to embarrass them further.

"Hey, Gab," she said with a smile.

"Hey, Vigne," Gab greeted, a little too casually. She really was a decent actress.

Vignette turned to Annabel and smiled.

"Hey, Annabel," she began, but Annabel interrupted her.

"I have to go!" she exclaimed with wide eyes, looking back and forth between Vignette and Gabriel. She slipped her t-shirt from her athletic uniform on and ran to the locker room exit. Vignette wasn't sure what was going through the girl's head, but she looked like she was completely shocked. Maybe she hadn't known that Gabriel and Vignette were friends and she felt bad for avoiding her that morning? One look at Gab showed that she was just as confused as she was.

"I was just going to invite her to lunch with us," Vignette said in frustration.

"Might want to, uh, give her some time," Gabriel commented.

Vignette agreed. After all, she and Gabriel were due for a very important conversation.

 **\0/**

 _Vigne! Gabriel!_

Satanichia felt like a complete idiot. She knew the voices sounded familiar, so why hadn't she noticed it before? Had she just not expected someone to use their actual name in an online username? That was no excuse. Now, she didn't know what to do. The reasonable thing to do would have been to just tell them what she thought and see if she was right, but she couldn't. She had just almost kissed Gabriel, first of all, and secondly, what if she was wrong? She didn't want a reputation at her new school as a boring, antisocial gamer with no people skills. If she could just avoid bullying for long enough, she could establish herself in the school as a student.

But what if she was right? Wouldn't that mean she _already_ had friends?

She didn't know what to do, but for the moment it didn't matter. She had class.


	11. Send Message?

**Truth be told, I wanted this chapter to be part of the last chapter, but it would have been way too long. I also wanted to game-to-IRL transition that I wrote for this chapter to happen, and I don't usually do those transitions mid-chapter. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy. :)**

Satanichia was many things. She was a commander of demons and angels alike. She was a demon with magics beyond the comprehension of mortals coursing through her veins. She was a peerless and cunning warrior. She was the very avatar of darkness and everything evil. She had wielded many weapons in her lifetime. Swords, axes, even her very blood had been used to slaughter at her behest. Currently, she was wielding a simple pen. With blue ink.

The fearsome demon that was normally most comfortable with blood covering her from head to toe was sitting at a desk in a small office in a mortal town. Her hands were cramping from the frantic composition of the letter she was writing. This was no matter of life or death, but it was urgent for her, nonetheless. The ink flowed onto the page, forming words in the unfamiliar human tongue used for communication between the angels and demons.

As quickly as the words gained form, the page was discarded into a pile in the corner of the room. The human in charge of the office – it was an office in charge of delivering postage to mortals before the near extinction of the mortal races – was eyeing her nervously, but he didn't dare speak up about the mess she was leaving on his floor. He would clean it later without complaint. More distracting than the smatterings of paper was the massive, spiked sword at her hip. He would take his chances with not talking to her at all. He did have _something_ of a survival instinct.

Satanichia growled and restrained her anger as much as she could to avoid the flames within her blood engulfing her flesh. She didn't want to receive a bill for property damage, after all. She clenched her fist around the pen and brought it down to the paper once again.

The keys on her keyboard clicked and clacked. It was lunch time at _Trinity Academy,_ and she had immediately stalked off – avoiding Gabriel and the girl she suspected was Vignette – and found a quiet, private spot in the library. She had opened her laptop and logged into the MMO with a single purpose in mind: she had to find out if Gabriel and her friend were _the_ Gabriel and her friend that she had been gaming with for several months.

Now, she was sitting at the mail screen and struggling to come up with a private message that would convey her message to her online friend without making her sound like a creep. Her backspace key was going to be completely worn out by the time she was finished at this rate. She looked over her shoulders carefully every time she heard footsteps or voice, but thankfully the library was pretty empty at lunchtime. She luckily had the skills to alt-F4 like lightning, having had years of experiences with a questionable browsing history.

She typed and typed and deleted and deleted for what felt like no time at all, but she knew that if she didn't hurry, she would run out of time and be late for her homeroom period with Ms. Weiss.

 _ArchDemon003: Hey! I think we may have met IRL!_

"No. Sounds creepy."

 _ArchDemon003: Question! What town is it you said you live in?_

"Ugh. Also creepy."

 _ArchDemon003: Hey so, you're a student, right? What kind of school do you go to? I recently started at a new school and one of the girls sounds_ just _like you._

"That's… not as bad. At least it explains the situation a bit," she mused.

"What are you doing in here?"

Satanichia jolted and quickly closed her laptop. She looked up to see the girl she suspected was Vignette, smiling, and Gabriel walking behind her, looking grumpy. She stuffed her laptop in her bag and tried to think of a response that wouldn't be embarrassing or awkward. She was still struggling to look Gabriel in the eyes after the incident earlier, so she looked at Vignette. She felt a lot less afraid of the girl and the chance of being bullied now that she had an inkling of the identities of the other two.

"Uh, just sitting here. Watching videos online," she lied smoothly. She felt bad about lying, but what else could she do? If these two weren't her cyber friends, then she would just gain the reputation of a loser gamer, and she would lose any chance she had of befriending anyone, even these two.

"Oh, that seems kind of odd for lunch period," Vignette pointed out, tilting her head, "but it just started, so we should go grab some food in the cafeteria."

"Wait. With me?" Satanichia clarified, "Really?"

"Well, that's the idea," Vignette nodded with her smile. She definitely _seemed_ like Vignette, or, at least, what Satanichia _imagined_ Vignette to be like in real life.

"Uh, I don't know if that's –," she began.

"She doesn't want to, let's go," Gabriel interrupted and grabbed Vignette's arm, pulling her away. Vignette stood her ground.

"Yes, she does, and I think you owe her an apology," Vignette told the blonde with a stern look. Gabriel sighed like an annoyed small child and stepped beside her friend, looking everywhere but at Satanichia.

"I'm sorry for what I did. I don't have a penis, and I didn't mean to make you faint," she apologized in a rehearsed manner. It didn't sound genuine at all.

"Wait. You don't have a-," Satanichia began again.

"No. It was a prank by Raphi," Gabriel said with an annoyed tone, "Now, let's go eat."

She spoke in a way that suggested the conversation was finished, but Vignette thought otherwise. Having stood and grabbed her bag, Satanichia was all for going along with it and following them, but Vignette put a hand on Gabriel's shoulder and stopped her.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Gab?"

Gabriel stammered and looked even more like a small child that was angry at their parent as she glared at Vignette.

"T-that's not even what happened!" she argued with a voice that was too loud for the library.

Vignette didn't flinch. She remained calm as she crossed her arms and looked at Gabriel in the most menacing stare that Satanichia had ever seen. It was almost like a dark aura had obliterated the calm and kindness the girl had been radiating since Satanichia had met her. She almost felt like an intruder in the conversation, despite it being an apology to her. Even Gabriel's eyes were wide in fear. Satanichia had no idea – and she assumed Gabriel didn't either – of what the consequences could be for opposing Vignette in this moment, but neither would risk it no matter the cost.

"F-fine!" Gabriel relented. She turned to Satanichia and looked her straight in the eyes as she said, "I'm sorry I seduced you. I know you're new and I shouldn't have taken advantage of you."

Satanichia would have done a spit-take if she had been drinking anything. As it was, she almost choked on her own saliva just from the shock of hearing that.

"T-that really didn't happen!" she argued, but Vignette's glare shut her up. She didn't even know _why_ Vignette was glaring at her. She was telling the truth.

"I'm not even gay," Gabriel whined under her breath as Vignette walked away, grabbing both of them by the hands and dragging them along. Both girls felt like slaves under the chains of their overseer than friends of Vignette. Satanichia tried to look at Gabriel for reassurance, but all Gabriel could do was give her a sad, resigned look that said, "You get used to it."

The cafeteria was right across the hallway from the library, so it was probably the first place the two had looked when they found her. She hadn't yet managed to finish the message to Gabriel, but she would have to get on that later. It couldn't really be helped.

Vignette pushed through the double-doors to the cafeteria with her shoulder, pulling Satanichia forward just a bit from the jerking motion. It was, thankfully, fairly empty, since most students apparently preferred to use actual cafes and restaurants on campus as opposed to the American-mall-like setup of the cafeteria. There were about three dozen large tables in the equally large room, and only about seven of the tables were even a little occupied.

Satanichia found herself – and Gabriel – led to the food stands, where Vignette watched them both like a hawk. Her eyes made sure that they only went where she approved, so Satanichia made her way through the same line as Gabriel. She wasn't picky about what she ate, after all. Truthfully, she wasn't even all that hungry. She was still riled up about the accidental almost-kiss in the locker room and the potential revelation of the two girls being her friends from her MMO. She distractedly ordered the first thing she saw – it looked like some kind of soup from a soup shop – and presented her student identification to the cashier at the end of the line. The bored employee scanned the ID card and waved the two girls along.

They didn't talk at all through the process. The misunderstanding that Vignette had made Gabriel apologize for was obviously wrong, and they knew what had happened, so their relationship – as new as it was – was fine. It was just that the prank Gabriel had pulled _had_ flustered her, and they _had_ come close to kissing, at least as far as Satanichia could tell. There were just no words that came to either one of them, so they stared absently at their trays of food.

Vignette led them to a table in the back of the room by a window as if they were prisoners. Satanichia didn't even know _why_ the girl was so intent on having lunch with her. She would have been fine with just sitting in the library in peace. She still needed time to process her first day, and, as happy as she was to have friends, this wasn't helping.

The three girls didn't really converse. They just started eating silently. Well, Satanichia was mostly twirling her spoon in the bowl of soup. Vignette had apparently lost the inner fire she had shown previously in the library. Gabriel was either fuming or embarrassed. Satanichia just didn't want to make things worse for anyone. Two or three minutes of silence passed, the only noise at their table being the clanking of silverware and the occasional throat clearing.

Gabriel eventually pulled out her phone and multitasked by eating and playing around on it.

"So," Vignette said with a pleasant voice, "Tell us about yourself, Annabel. It must be intimidating, being a new student."

It was an awkward attempt at small talk, but Satanichia was thankful for a break for the uncomfortable lull. She wasn't, however, thankful that it required her talking. She knew these two wouldn't treat her as her former classmates did, if only because of her suspicions of their identities, but she still didn't really know much about talking to people. Gabriellia – the online one – was the absolute first person Satanichia had ever met outside of her family, so she was completely lacking in the ability to read social cues or react to them. Just answering simple questions like this one was extremely difficult for her. It felt… strange.

"I'm from Scotland, but my mom is from France," she said slowly, adding, "I was homeschooled up until last year."

"Oh. Why is that? Did your parents travel a lot?"

"They never traveled, but I never really asked why I was homeschooled," she lied. She had asked many times, but Dougal's twisted brand of superiority had always been the response she received.

 _"A superior education from the McDowell family suits my daughter more than any public education!" he had boasted, "Your only purpose in a public school is to lord over the rest of the students and show them your intelligence and the power of our family!"_

"Well, what did they do?" Vignette persisted, "Tell us about them!"

Satanichia debated how much to say. She was positive Gabriel knew about the abuse, but she knew she hadn't told her any details. She hadn't told Vignette at all, and she was sure the blonde hadn't either. The bruises were mostly healed up. They were at least healed to the point that they were easily hidden without her scarf or a heavier coat. She didn't want to give up any information about her family that would be a red flag, informing Vignette of her situation. She wasn't exactly used to talking to people, so she didn't know what was considered _normal_ in most families. She didn't want a slip of the tongue to start a rumor in the school about how Dougal abused her or worse. She decided telling them about her mom and brother could be harmless enough. Talking about them was less likely to show any signs of what had happened.

Luckily, she was interrupted when Ms. Weiss appeared at their table.

"Ms. McDowell," she greeted neutrally with a nod. Satanichia noticed the other two perking up when they noticed the teacher's presence, especially Gabriel. She looked at the other students at the table and greeted them, "Ms. Tsukinose. Ms. White."

There was a slight pause between "Tsukinose" and "Ms. White," but Satanichia shrugged it off. After the eventful morning, the last thing she needed was to foster conspiracy theories in her head about teacher-student relationships.

The three greeted Ms. Weiss together with a "Hi, Ms. Weiss," earning a smile from the teacher. If there was one thing Satanichia could appreciate, it was the mature elegance presented by her teacher. Every smile the woman had shown so far seemed to be a perfect example of her sophisticated beauty. She briefly found herself cursing Christianity for mostly disapproving of homosexuality in a world full of such beautiful women, but she realized that kind of attitude was just a childish way of lamenting what she couldn't have.

"Ms. McDowell," the teacher got straight to business, "I need to speak with you in my classroom at your earliest convenience."

Satanichia's eyes widened. She knew she couldn't be in any kind of trouble. It was her first day, and the only incident she was a part of was – as far as she knew – a tightly kept secret between her, Vignette, and Gabriel. She couldn't imagine why the teacher wanted to speak with her privately. She nodded and stood from her seat, ready to bite the bullet.

"Of course," she said with a wobbly smile that she hoped was convincing. Ms. Weiss giggled slightly.

"You may finish your lunch first, of course," she said with an oddly familiar smile, "It isn't anything worth rushing over. Just come a few moments before our next homeroom class."

"R-right. D-did I do something wrong?" she asked nervously. She hoped her voice was low enough to not cause a scene, but the only two within range were Gabriel and Vignette, anyway, and they didn't seem to be all that concerned.

"Of course, not. We simply need to speak about your previous curriculum because of how sudden your transfer was," she said with a reassuring grin. Satanichia could have stared at her teacher's eyes for hours, but thankfully she had enough self-control to look away. She didn't want to make her friends think she was a pervert, and – if the rumors were true – she didn't think Gabriel would appreciate her checking out their teacher.

"Oh. Right. I'll be there soon," she promised with a relieved smile of her own.

Ms. Weiss waved goodbye to the group and walked away. Satanichia thought she saw a meaningful glance between the teacher and Vignette, but she knew it was probably her imagination. She wasn't exactly mellow after the crazy day she had been having.

"Gab? When did you brush your hair?" Vignette asked in surprise.

Satanichia turned and stared at the blonde. Sure enough, her hair was perfectly straight. It was almost comical when compared to the slouched posture the girl was in and the sloppy way that she was drinking her soup straight from the bowl hands-free as she played on her phone. The blonde's eyes turned to Vignette, and she almost had the dignity to blush. Almost, but not quite.

"I always take care of my hair."

"No, you don't. You usually roll straight out of bed and come straight to class without even brushing your teeth."

"Rude. I usually brush my teeth on the way to class. I keep a hygiene kit in my backpack and everything."

"Fair enough, but what about your hair? It's almost like you were trying to _impress_ someone."

Vignette's smile was gone, and a sly smirk had taken its place. Gabriel turned off her phone and stuffed it in her pocket.

She turned to Vignette and, with a smirk that would put Vignette's to shame, asked, "Why would I need to impress _anyone_ when I have _you?"_

Satanichia tried to hold back her own laughter as Vignette was reduced to a blushing, stammering mess for the rest of the lunch period and Gabriel smirked victoriously. She wondered if those two interacted like this all the time. She didn't have any friends at her old school. Hell, she didn't even have acquaintances there, so this was a whole new experience. She wasn't used to having fun at school period, even at lunch. _Maybe this school won't be so bad, after all._

 **\0/**

"…and I'd like to remind students that school will _not_ be in session between Friday, the 27th of October, and Tuesday, the 31st of October. The dining facility and dorm rooms will be open as normal, but class will not be meeting. Our debate for next Monday will be postponed exactly one week."

Apparently, as a method to give students time to digest their lunch and relax after the lazy hour in which most of them ate, Ms. Weiss usually preferred to handle school-wide and class-specific announcements in the afternoon. Satanichia had to admit that such an idea had merit. After all, weren't there studies that suggested that students had trouble concentrating immediately after eating?

That particular announcement had really surprised her. Her first day of school had fallen on a Thursday, and she didn't even have to attend the rest of the week? She wasn't going to complain to whatever gods were watching over her. She would enjoy the time out of class. She needed time to process the hell of a first day and she wouldn't mind logging onto her favorite – and only – MMORPG for a five-day weekend.

This time, the seat on the other side of Vignette wasn't empty. Instead, Gabriel was sitting there, and, if Satanichia hadn't met Gabriel for her tour of the school, she wouldn't have recognized her as the same girl she had been getting to know. The girl with the laid-back attitude and messy hair that had shown her around town was an entirely different creature than the pristine doll that was sitting in the back of Ms. Weiss's classroom. Her eyes were sparkling, her hair was stunningly perfect, and even her uniform was completely flawless, without a single wrinkle in place. Her hoodie was folded neatly, and her voice took on an innocent, angelic quality when Ms. Weiss called upon her.

In other words, Satanichia found the new Gabriel adorable, not that she would ever say it to the girl's face. Truthfully, it was troublesome for her to have to deal with during class. She already struggled to keep up with the lecture due to her lack of familiarity with the Holy Bible and the walking distraction that was known as Ms. Weiss. She didn't think it was possible that someone could draw her attention from the older woman, but she found herself making the occasional small glance in Gabriel's direction. She reasoned that it was probably because of what had happened in P.E. class that morning, but even she knew that was a stretch.

She noticed a subtle whisper from the blonde's mouth when Ms. Weiss was turned around and writing something on the whiteboard. It was so silent, that she wouldn't have heard it if she hadn't been glancing in that direction. She kept her head facing the teacher, but her eyes watched as Vignette shook her head at the blonde beside her. A few more whispers – this time sounding more and more frantic – volleyed between the two girls and Satanichia was confused. Vignette didn't seem the type to talk in class at all, and she couldn't imagine Gabriel doing so with this doll-like persona thrown on. She noticed the two girls were basically playing a game of _hot potato_ with something, but she couldn't see what it was without turning her head. She tried to focus back on the lecture.

…only to feel something hit her in the side of the head. She quickly scrambled to grab it without drawing Ms. Weiss's attention. She didn't want to be a troublemaker, especially on her first day. The item that had hit her head was a small piece of paper, crumbled into a ball. She looked over to Gabriel and Vignette.

Vignette was pinching her nose, and it was clear she was exasperated. Her face was read and, her eyes were focused intently on the teacher as she tried her hardest to ignore what was going on around her. Gabriel, however, was sitting properly in her desk like before, but she was subtle making eye contact with Satanichia as she made a gesture that clearly said, "read it."

Satanichia opened the paper as quietly as she could and read it.

 _hey, wanna trick or treat w/ me and vigne?_

She made sure Ms. Weiss was still not looking her way and turned to Gabriel, who was watching her carefully. She nodded subtly and went back to her notetaking. It took several minutes before she realized what she had agreed to.

She had never been trick-or-treating before. After all, Dougal had never seen much reason to encourage activities like Halloween festivities and her mother had always been busy serving as a modern slave under the rule of that bastard. She had never dressed up for Halloween, and she had never celebrated any other aspect of the holiday. She normally just stayed in and played her video games.

She would have to do some research when she got home. She didn't know what to wear, what to do, or how to behave. What kind of costumes were expected? What kind of tricks were permissible? She literally knew nothing except what she had seen on cartoons as a child, and those were so over the top that she didn't know what to trust.

Before long the class had ended and the day was finally over.

"Hey, 'Bel."

Satanichia looked at Vignette with visible confusion.

"S-sorry. I thought I'd try it out. Do you want to walk to the dorms together?"

"Sorry, I have to speak with Ms. Weiss," she said apologetically.

"We can wait."

"She doesn't live in the dorms, though," Gabriel chimed in, angel-act still going strong. She would probably keep it up until she wasn't within hearing distance of the classroom. Satanichia wasn't the most observant person in the world, but even she could tell to whom the act was directed.

"Oh. Well, hold on," Vignette instructed, digging through her bag for a piece of paper and a pen. She scribbled quickly, but neatly, onto the paper and folded it gently. She passed it to Satanichia, who was still packing up her own books. She smiled, "That's my phone number. Text me when you're finished, and maybe we can all hang out this weekend."

"S-sure," Satanichia said with a blush. She hadn't expected her first day to go like this. There were awkward moments, scary moments, bad moments, and then moments like these that gave her hope in her future at _Trinity Academy._

"See you later, Annabel!"

"Bye, Annabel!"

Both girls called out their goodbyes over their shoulders as they left the room. Satanichia stared at the piece of paper in her hand and smiled more than she had ever smiled before. In fact, after all her smiling for the day, her cheeks were actually _hurting_ , but it was a good kind of pain. The pain that came with the triumph of making real friends.

"I see you're acclimating well," Ms. Weiss said, surprising Satanichia with how close she was behind her. It wasn't that she was _too_ close, it was just that she had completely snuck up on her. The smile on the teacher's face was absolutely radiant. Her eyes were shining like diamonds. There were slight dimples on her cheeks with the pure joy of her smile. If Satanichia was honest, this teacher was single-handedly making her consider conversion.

"I- I think so," Satanichia agreed. She softly muttered, "I didn't have very many friends at my old school."

By "very many," she meant, "any."

"I love all of my students, but those two are special to me," Ms. Weiss said with fondness in her voice, "Sit down. There's no need to be formal about this."

Satanichia sat down at her desk and ignored the weird sensation of seeing her teacher in Vignette's desk. Not only was it strange to see a figure of authority in a student-designated desk, but there was also the obvious awkwardness due to it being Ms. Weiss of all people. There was no other way to put it other than bluntly, but Ms. Weiss was stunningly attractive. Satanichia had never considered sexuality before, but she knew that in most of her RPGs, she usually romanced the female companions. (The only exception was Alistair from Dragon Age, because he was very cute.) The fact of the matter was that she was alone, after school, with a beautiful teacher that had rumors of affairs with students attached to her. It was only natural for her mind to go down a dark path and for her nervousness to skyrocket.

"Is everything alright, Annabel?" Ms. Weiss asked concernedly. It was the first time she had used Satanichia's first name instead of calling her Ms. McDowell, and she could feel the blush creeping up on her.

"O-of course, Ms. Weiss. Why wouldn't everything be alright? Everything is fantastic," she said in a voice that was higher pitched than what she normally spoke with.

"Good," the teacher said with a smile, "To tell you the truth, this meeting isn't actually a requirement. I was just worried for you after you fled the room this morning."

Satanichia remembered it vividly. She had been so startled by another student talking to her without the intention to stuff her in a locker, or trip her, or pull her already-too-short-skirt down to her ankles, that she had had a mental overload. She had panicked and ran from the classroom. It was embarrassing in hindsight, since it was just Vignette, but she couldn't help it.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Weiss. I'm not very good with people," she said, in what was possibly the biggest understatement of her lifetime.

"Nonsense," Ms. Weiss argued, "You're speaking to me just fine. I've heard that you and Ms. White are getting along, as well. "

"I- I suppose there was just something about Vignette that affected me?" she offered. A look of realization crossed Ms. Weiss's face. Her smile was a little different now, but Satanichia couldn't tell what had changed.

"I see. How would you like to join Ms. Tsukinose and Ms. White for the debate on the 6th of November?"

"I would like that, sure," she said with a nod. Truthfully, she hadn't even considered her team assignment for the upcoming debate. Ms. Weiss assigning her to a team actually made it easier, and less stressful, for her.

"Good. I can take care of that," Ms. Weiss said with a smile, "Now, I supposed to main purpose of this meeting is to address any concerns you may have. How has your schooling affected you previously?"

"I was homeschooled until last year, but my marks were decent at my new school," she said awkwardly. She hated thinking about her old school.

"I already knew that," Ms. Weiss said gently, "I supposed I should word my questions more effectively. How did you fare in school? Socially, that is. I know vaguely of the situation which led to your transfer, but I know a lot of young students have unresolved issues at school."

Satanichia looked down at her desk. She really didn't want to have this conversation. Talking about her previous lack of friends or average grades was fine and dandy, but she didn't want to actively talk about the bullying she had endured. She absently marveled at her mind's ability to jump from thoughts of a beautiful teacher sitting in front of her to the strong desire to avoid embarrassment and traumatic conversations.

"My life at my old school could have, uh, been better," she said. _Another understatement of the century,_ she thought ruefully.

"I understand if you don't want to talk about anything," Ms. Weiss said with a solemn look on her face. The teacher placed her hand over Satanichia's and continued, "If you ever need to talk, I'm here for you. I wasn't lying when I said I care for my students, Annabel."

Satanichia's blush was back with a vengeance.

"R-right. T-thank you, Ms. Weiss!"

"Are you sure you're okay, Annabel? You look like you're flustered," Ms. Weiss said with her voice full of concern.

"Y-yes, Ms. Weiss. I must be coming down with something," she lied, surprising herself with how smooth she was with her words.

"Okay. Well, I've taken enough of your time. I'll see you next week," Ms. Weiss said.

Satanichia was already standing and grabbing her bag, rushing to get out of the door. She had to get away from this situation, and she had to do it now, before she died of embarrassment or lust-overload. Whichever came first.

"G-goodbye, Ms. Weiss," she called out as she exited the room."

"Remember that I'm here if you need anything!" she heard Ms. Weiss call out as she made her way to the hallway.

She had barely made it to the front door of the school when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

 _ **New Message: 16:23**_

It was going to be a fun weekend.


	12. Persuasion Successful!

**Hey guys! So sorry about the long wait, but I got a potentially _huge_ opportunity. My family invited me to a reunion in Mecklenberg, Germany, and I, being from the U.S., have never even been to Europe. Because of this invitation, I've been working a lot of overtime hours to save up the money needed for the plane ticket and passport application. I apologize for the long wait, but I finally had time to update the story.**

 **This chapter is kind of funny. I literally scrapped the entire thing and rewrote it at least six times because I just couldn't stand how the chapter turned out. I'm still not quite happy with it, but it does what I needed it to, I think. Also, I tried to keep writing more with Raphi's name being spelled as "Raphael" for a sense of realism within the real world as far as the names go, but I quickly got irritated every time I saw the mispelling, even though it was intentional. I ended up reverting to the actual spelling of Raphiel's name. I'm sorry for any confusion. I plan to go back to my old chapters and replace "Raphael" with "Raphiel."**

 **Thanks so much, guys! I hope you enjoy!**

 _Burble._

Sweat lightly dripped down Satanichia's face as she continued the task at hand.

 _Burble._

She had to be careful performing such a task. The tiniest mistake could cause the most lethal of explosions. She hadn't always had a steady hand. Her style was normally more hashy-slashy, but she had steadied her grip with practice.

 _Burble._

She carefully sliced and crushed the ingredients in precise measurements and boiled them within the boiling flask. The scent of various metals reaching their boiling point filled the air, but she was used to it.

 _Burble._

It was almost a peaceful task, brewing potions. Sure, she, as the future Queen of Hell, reveled in combat, and the feel of enemy blood on her flesh was nearly orgasmic, but even she could enjoy her moments of peace. She carefully poured the pink-ish liquid from the boiling flask into a smaller flask and carefully stirred a trace of another type of metal into the mixture.

 _Burble._

Even as one batch of the potion finished boiling, another began the process. That was the sacrifice necessary for the mass-production she had been assigned to perform. She didn't mind. After all, she was one of the best chemists' around. Very few demons or angels could come close to matching her skill. Since her combat-style often focused on her receiving most of the blows from her opponents, it was helpful to know how to brew such useful potions.

 _Burble._

She was happy to be on her last batch. She was used to brewing potions for herself, and _maybe_ her two guildmates. This time, however, she had been assigned the duty of crafting enough potions for about forty angels and demons. Normally, she would have simply deferred the task to another alchemist, but this time she was the only one that could help.

 _Burble._

After defeating the dragon with a ragtag group of mercenaries, soldiers of Heaven, and demonic warriors, she had become something of a hero. Her leadership had provided the morale boost needed to kill such an unkillable enemy. Surprisingly, a waygate had opened within the dragon's lair upon its death. The waygate was a portal to the stronghold of a powerful general of the traitorous demonic army.

 _Burble._

Satanichia was, naturally, asked to lead the charge. She was also, naturally, asked to provide special fire-resistance potions for all of the warriors that would be accompanying the group. There would be no less than forty of them, and it would take every last one of them.

 _Burble._

The potion wasn't particularly hard to make. The problem was that demonic alchemists were rare. The primary ingredient in the potion was a type of metal from the depths of Hell. The metal was to be heated to a very specific temperature and crushed into a fine powder before it could cool. If the metal was mixed into the freshly boiled mixture that served as a base for most healing potions, then the toxicity of the metal was nullified, and the benefits of the potion would serve its drinker well. Additionally, only a single sip was required to reap the benefits, so one flask of the potion would last quite a while.

 _Burble._

Angel alchemists didn't have easy access to the metal because of its location. Satanichia, as the true rightful heir to the throne of the underworld, had free reign in all of the depths of the fiery chasm. All she had left to do was to wait for the –

 _Brrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnngggggg!_

"Gah! What the hell was that!?" Satanichia shrieked into the mic, looking nervously around to make sure she hadn't disturbed her uncle, aunt, or cousin. She had forgotten that they were actually at work, so she only had to worry about bothering Raphiel, which she didn't honestly care about.

"Gab's microwave," Vignette explained casually – Satanichia couldn't think of the girl as Vignett _a_ anymore. That girl was definitely the girl from her class. She was almost completely sure of it.

"Oh. Is it really that loud?" she asked, breathing heavily to catch her breath.

"Yeah. They're like that in every dorm. That's why I never use mine, if I can help it. I prefer to cook properly."

"Oh? You can cook?"

Satanichia looked at her inventory and smiled. She was almost finished crafting all of the potions. She just had two more to go. Alchemy is this MMORPG wasn't as simple as pressing a button. There was a minigame associated with the skill. (Cooking, blacksmithing, and all other crafting skills also had unique minigames.) She had managed to master the minigame early, so she had gained a server-wide reputation as one of the "good alchemists."

"Yeah. It's cheaper and healthier to properly cook using fresh ingredients, as opposed to cheap fast food and microwave dinners."

Satanichia had an idea the girl was glaring at Gabriel as she said that. The image made her giggle mentally.

"'sntng rnng wiw chngg nggts," Gabriel countered elegantly.

"Chew, then speak, Gab. Honestly. It's like I'm lecturing a child."

Gabriel swallowed her food so loudly that Satanichia could hear her esophagus working overtime. The light cough confirmed her suspicion that it had been a big bite.

"I said there's nothing wrong with chicken nuggets," Gabriel argued proudly before loudly continuing to munch on her lunch.

"She does this all the time," Satanichia said with a smile. She found it almost cute, despite how gross it really was. Gabriel's slobbiness was part of her character. Maybe it was because she was Satanichia's first ever friend, but the redhead found that she could appreciate even the flaws in the girl. After all, a world of people without such flaws would just be, well, boring. A world full of NPCs.

"I know," Vignette said sadly, "But it can't be helped."

Satanichia had to admit it. Even after just one day of school, she was happy to have this peace back once again. This video game was her happy place for the past few months. The only problem was the identity of her friends. She knew who they were. She could recognize the voices as clearly as day. They even had the same characteristics. There was no doubt: the girls in her guild were her classmates. She knew that. Logically and in her heart, she knew it.

…so why couldn't she do something as simple as _asking them about it?_ All it would take was a short sentence, and they would know. Was her complete lack of social ability so crippling that she couldn't even confirm that her friends were classmates? The thought that she was so useless at talking to people pissed her off.

It wasn't even as if there would be a rumor at school if she asked these girls. If she asked them and she was wrong, the worst that would happen was that she would be wrong. It wasn't like she was asking someone at school if they were her MMORPG gaming buddies. She was asking the gaming buddies of they were someone at her school. It was the safest bet.

Was she afraid that she was wrong, or afraid that she was right? Perhaps neither. Maybe it was because of all of the change thrusted into her life against her will recently. Was it so wrong of her to just want things to continue as they had been?

"Hey, Gab," Vignette interrupted the loud mastication of chicken nuggets.

"Hmm?" Gabriel asked with her mouthful once again.

"We have to go," she said with a sigh. If Satanichia could see her, she was sure she'd be pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration at Gabriel's rudeness. Gabriel swallowed.

"Already?" she whined.

"Yes. Satanichia, I apologize. We have to log off for the night. We should be able to return late tonight, though."

"Oh. Not a problem. I have to finish making these potions, anyway. It sure is taxing, being the only capable alchemist on this server," she said with an exaggerated ego.

"See you tonight, loser," Gabriel said brightly before logging off. Vignette followed suit, but Satanichia could hear the beginning of her chastising Gabriel as she logged off.

It didn't bother her that they were logging off. She had been keeping track of the time all morning. She knew they would be logging off at this time. After all, her friends from school had made plans to meet up with her at 3:00 p.m. at the local costume shop.

She logged off and walked over to the dresser in the guest room. The rest of her clothes had arrived via post that morning, so her dresser and closer were fuller than before. She grabbed some appropriate clothes for going out – she usually wore shorts and a tanktop when she was hanging out around the house – and changed. She checked the outfit in the mirror. Dark blue jeans with decorative rips – her mother had thought they would look good on her – and a light green polo shirt. _Perfect._

She casually slipped on some socks and grabbed her wallet from the top of the dresser. She checked inside and her eyes widened as she realized that she had been spending the money her mother had given her faster than she had thought. _Guess I'll need a job soon,_ she thought. Her phone buzzed.

 _((Gabriel: we r on the way))_

 _I already know that,_ she thought happily.

She shoved her feet into her boots and tied them. It was a chilly day, but it wasn't too cold, so she didn't need to dress any warmer than she already was. Naturally, she still needed a coat. She grabbed the first coat she saw in her closet, slipped her phone into her pocket, and made her way out into the hall.

…only to bump face-to-face into Raphiel. It was clear that the girl was watching into her room, but she had done worse, so Satanichia decided to ignore it.

"Sorry, Raph, I have to go," she said with a turn and walked away.

"Oh! Could it be that you're going costume-searching with Gab?" she asked with honeyed words. Satanichia froze in her tracks. Where had Raphiel learned such a thing? She couldn't imagine Gabriel would tell her. She seemed to be just as afraid of Raphiel as Satanichia was. Then who? She hardly noticed Raphiel still talking, "…with you!"

"C-come again?" she asked nervously.

"I'm coming with you, cousin!" Raphiel exclaimed with pure joy, "I just happened to overheard Vignette and Gabriel talking about their plans for Halloween, and Vignette invited me!"

Satanichia tried not to panic. She had a better idea of what had happened. Raphiel had been spying on Gabriel and Vignette – probably in the shower, or in their dorm room, or something excessive like that. For some reason, an image of her cousin standing on the window ledge outside of Gabriel's dorm room with a small listening device of some kind just to miraculously barge into the door as soon as she heard something juicy wasn't exactly out of place in Satanichia's mind.

"O-oh. I see."

She couldn't exactly argue with her cousin's plans, though. If she had been invited, she had been invited. There was no way she could just say "don't come!" with a clear conscience.

"Let's go, Annabel!" Raphiel said with a giggle as she grabbed Satanichia's arm and pulled. The two were in Lucille's other car – the one she normally allowed Raphiel to drive – in less than twenty seconds from the second floor of the house.

 **\0/**

"Here it is," she told Raphiel from the passenger seat.

"Oh my! The costume shop sure is grand this year!" Raphiel said with a bell-like laugh. If she wasn't so sadistic, Satanichia would even have to admit how adorable she was.

The massive crowd of people had to be at least a hundred-strong. People were squeezing through other groups and shorter individuals were hopping to try and see over the massive sea of people. Luckily, the costume shopped seemed well-equipped from the outside. From the outside of the windows, employees could be recognized by their uniform shirts and the boxes of various costume supplies as they frantically rushed throughout the store.

"Isn't it like this every year?"

"Heavens, no! There are normally less than half as many people."

That was surprising. As far as her friends had told her, the shop was a smaller one that had only opened the previous year. Supposedly they had struggled for customers the previous year, so Vignette and Gabriel – _especially Gabriel –_ had gladly given the shop their patronage to avoid the crowds. Such a change could only be chalked up to her own bad luck.

"It's going to be impossible to find them," she grumbled under her breath.

"They're on that bench over there," Raphiel said with a bright smile, pointing excitedly with both hands at the bench.

 _Wait. What!?_

"Put your hands on the wheel!" Satanichia yelled out, pushing her cousin's hands toward the steering wheel.

"Oh. How silly of me!" Raphiel said with the tone of someone who simply forgot to push in their chair after dinner.

Satanichia just held tightly onto her own lap as she nervously watched her cousin pull into the parking lot and search for a space. Within three minutes, there was finally a space occupied by Lucille's car and the excited Raphiel was walking with an arm around the waist of the shaken Satanichia.

She was relieved to be out of the car and on the solid land once again. So strong was her relief that she ignored the overly-affectionate show of her cousin. She even managed to ignore passing glances of people that – had she been paying attention to anything other than her mental preparation of her first friend gathering, she would have noticed – thought the two were just a young, cute couple. After all, they didn't look anything alike.

Satanichia ignored the thought. These people weren't her friends. She couldn't care less what they thought.

The pair approached the crowd, and Raphiel had to drag Satanichia forward because of the intimidating number of people. The two squeezed and weaved through the groups of teenagers and adults alike. Raphiel was laughing merrily, but that was probably at Satanichia's expense due to the older girl's sadistic nature.

After what felt like forever, the two finally reached the bench that Raphiel had apparently seen Gabriel and Vignette on. Suspiciously, she found that there was no longer an arm around her waist and her hands was now free from the tight grip of her stalker cousin. She looked over in the direction of the bench and smiled when she saw her friends.

"Vignette!" she called out, "Gabriel!"

The two turned their heads and looked over their shoulders. Vignette smiled and waved – there was just enough distance that calling out would be awkward, after all. Satanichia, inept at social interaction as she was, didn't quite think about such a simple thing. She also didn't notice any of the stares around her as she called out. Gabriel just turned back in front of her and kept playing with her phone.

Satanichia lightly jogged over to her friends and stood behind the bench.

"Hey, guys!" she greeted enthusiastically.

"Sup."

"Hello, Annabel."

The other two greeted her in unison.

"Sorry I made you wait, my-" she began, intending to explain about Raphiel's invasion of their little outing, but she didn't need to. Raphiel was already snuggling Gabriel from behind, pressing her chest to the back of Gabriel's head and nuzzling the blonde hair with her cheek.

"Gaaaaab," she drawled out excitedly. It almost sounded sultry, but Satanichia decided that had to be her imagination. She also consciously ignored the slight jealousy she felt toward her cousin.

"Get off," Gabriel argued halfheartedly, clearly distracted on her phone. A quick glance told Satanichia that she was browsing Reddit.

"…uh, you were saying?" Vignette asked awkwardly.

"Uh, my cousin distracted me," she said, still staring at the scene in front of her. It wasn't clear if she was referring to the moment back at home, or the distraction currently being caused by the girl without any working knowledge of personal space.

"I… can see that," Vignette nodded sympathetically.

"Get her off of me," Gabriel begged disinterestedly.

"But who else is as soft as you, Gab?" Raphiel argued as her arms tightened around Gabriel's shoulders.

"Let's go get our costumes!" Satanichia interrupted, pulling Raphiel forcefully away from Gabriel and dragging her toward the automatic doors.

Vignette and Gabriel stood up and followed the cousins into the store, narrowly avoiding being stepped on and bumped into. Gabriel didn't seem fazed, being fully immersed by the Reddit experience, but Vignette was getting more and more flustered.

"It's not normally like this," she explained apologetically.

"It's fine," Satanichia lied, pretending not to mind the crowds so much.

The group made it properly into the store, and the crowds didn't seem as bad from the inside. Most people seemed to be covering the entrance and outside of the shop. The building seemed a lot larger from the inside than it had looked from the parking lot. There had to be dozens of aisles filled to the brim with various costumes and makeup. It seemed the shop had a variety that could not be surpassed, even online.

"Wow. It's huge," Satanichia marveled at the sheer scale of the store. Her eyes couldn't decide what to inspect. There were capes, dresses, makeup and accessories, and even miscellaneous Halloween supplies like candy and buckets. There was an entire section in the distance filled to the brim with random house decorations in the Halloween style. The crazy thing was that those were just things Satanichia could see from the front of the shop. She couldn't even _imagine_ the massive amount of Halloween goods within such a spooky haven.

"Yeah," Vignette agreed," Gab and I discovered this place last year, and we've been regulars ever since."

A shaggy-haired employee rushed past them with a large tote of materials, calling out with an "excuse me" as he kept his fast pace in the direction of a random shelf. All of the employees seemed to be overwhelmingly busy. It made sense to Satanichia, given the number of customers, but she still felt pity for the employees.

"Wait. Regulars? How can you be a regular at a Halloween shop?" she asked curiously.

"They sell things from all of the holidays, silly," Raphiel explained with a smile, "This is where I purchase most of my rope and masks, but it's difficult throughout the year. The employees often have to search through out-of-season stock."

"Ah. I see- _wait! What!? Did you just say-?"_

"What kind of costume do you want to get, Gabriel?" Raphiel ignored Satanichia in favor of asking a question that the redhead had to admit she was curious about as well.

"Eh?" the girl looked up from her phone, "Already got one."

"What? You already have one?" Vignette clarified, assuming she had to have misheard.

"Yup. Vignette dragged me here 'cause she has to get hers," Gabriel nodded, turning her attention back to her phone.

"What kind of costume is it?" Satanichia asked, lest her mind begin to wander.

"Schoolgirl," Gabriel answered, caught up in some mobile game.

Satanichia would be lying if she said her mind wasn't running wild filling in the gaps of what Gabriel would look like in a "schoolgirl" costume, but…

"…is it just your school uniform…?" Vignette asked flatly.

"Yep."

 _Oh._

"You're getting a costume, and you're going to celebrate with the rest of us," Vignette commanded. Her voice was starting to take on the scary tone from the previous day in the library at school, so Satanichia knew that Gabriel would go along.

"Nah. Got stuff to do."

Time seemed to stop. Even the people passing by could feel an oppressive energy coming from the group of girls. People uncomfortably walked past the group, averting their gaze. A storm was clearly brewing. There was a thick tension amongst the three girls.

 _Three…?_

It was interrupted immediately when a silvery blur assaulted Gabriel from behind. Well, assaulted was a strong word, but it was the only one that truly fit with the situation. Satanichia felt both pity for Gabriel and relief that she wasn't the target for once. Gabriel, however, was frozen on the spot. No one looked at Gabriel except for Raphiel, but everyone wanted to.

The silver-haired stalker had disappeared masterfully. Not a soul had noticed she was even gone until it was too late. Her mastery of stealth was beyond any rogue in any video game. She hadn't been seen until she wanted to be seen, and by then Gabriel was already a victim. Satanichia looked up and gasped.

She was a victim wearing a black cat-ear headband with an attached matching cape. The cape itself reached Gabriel's knees, and halfway down the cloak was a matching cat tail. A band on the inside of the cape was tied around Gabriel's waist – _when did Raphi manage to tie that!? –_ and the cloak was swirling gently behind the girl. Raphiel was standing innocently beside Gabriel, holding a package with a black outfit that would admittedly look good under the cloak and a package with fake whiskers. No one dared speak. The power of Gabriel's glare prevented them from saying anything. Until…

"…I found you a costume, Gab!" the monster – that Satanichia secretly thanked in her mind – exclaimed loudly. On a scale of one to ten, Satanichia placed Gabriel's cuteness – even in partial costume only – at about a twelve. It was the most adorable costume possible, and she wanted Gabriel to agree to it.

"Never."

"Come on, Gab, have some Halloween spirit!" Vignette joyously cheered as she put an arm encouragingly around her friend.

"This," she began, "is not a Halloween costume. I'm not wearing it."

"You have to wear a costume when we go trick-or-treating," Raphiel argued, not seeming the least bit apologetic for what she did. She continued holding the rest of the costume out to Gabriel.

"No, I don't."

"But Annabel loves it!" Raphiel pointed out.

Three sets of eyes turned to her. She was vaguely aware of her own unblinking eyes and gaping mouth. She was painfully aware of the blush creeping up her neck. She tried grasping at straws for something to say to get the attention off of her. She decided it would be best to play it off as a joke.

"Do you really like it, Annabel?" Gabriel asked with a sigh.

"Y-yeah," she said, all thoughts of lying gone with the wind, "it's cute."

She ignored the giggles that Raphiel was stifling and the wide eyes and devilish smirk of Vignette. Instead, her eyes found safety on the ground.

"I agree," Vignette said loudly, drawing attention from her, "Gabriel, you look adorable in that costume."

She made a mental note to thank the girl for taking aggro from her.

"I'm not wearing this," Gabriel said with a shake of her head that made the ears shake and the tail wag slightly.

One hour later, Satanichia was helping her friends hold Gabriel down to prevent the girl from running at the checkout line.

All four girls were now holding a costume. Well, actually, Vignette was holding the costume Gabriel would be wearing. Satanichia held a classic vampire costume, complete with fangs, cape, and elegant dress clothes in her size. The shop really was impressive in its stock. Vignette was holding Gabriel's costume and a witch's costume set, containing makeup, a cloak, a hat, and a wand. Raphiel was holding a posh pumpkin-themed dress with a matching hat along with some rope and a few unrelated Halloween masks. While Satanichia had a bad feeling, she was, at the moment, sated by the excitement of her first ever Halloween with actual friends.

The clerk at the checkout was nice enough. She was courteous and even understanding of the forceful behavior of the group of friends. She took everything in stride, keeping her cool even as Gabriel struggled against her captors. It only took one of Vignette's glares to hold the cashier back when the blonde pleaded for help. She was truly a credit to her job.

It was with mixed emotions that the group exited through the automatic doors. Not even the chipper farewell from the cashier lady could cheer Gabriel up, who was mumbling under her breath about her hatred of people. Raphiel was quietly marveling at Gabriel's costume – which was still in the packaging. Vignette seemed cheerful because the preparations for Halloween night were well underway. Satanichia… well, she wasn't sure how to feel. She was a little bit embarrassed about her reaction to Gabriel in part of the costume, and she felt pretty badly for Gabriel and the inhumane way the group was treating her, but she would be lying if she wasn't excited for their trick-or-treating session.

A few minutes later, and the group had decided to grab lunch at a local diner. Raphiel volunteered to drive them there, and she even managed to drive safely until they reached their destination. Satanichia managed to avoid holding onto the handle above the door in a panic, so she considered that a win.

The waitress was pretty quick to receive their orders. Four glasses were filled to the top with soda, water, and juice.

"…I can't believe you chose cake as your lunch, Gabriel. How are you so skinny with your diet?" Vignette asked incredulously.

"I wish I could eat cake without gaining any weight," Raphiel fantasized dreamily.

Satanichia stayed quiet. She didn't want to incur the wrath of the two women by telling them that her metabolism was on the same level as that of the blonde.

"Yrh pnnh ffmm dss, Vnnte," Gabriel said as she took a large bite. Vignette didn't even need to say anything. Gabriel swallowed the bite of food and repeated herself, "You're paying for this, Vignette."

"What? No, I'm not," Vignette countered gracefully.

"Yeah, you are. You owe me that much," Gabriel said with a broken voice. Again, Satanichia pitied her, but her excitement for Halloween overshadowed that pity.

"I can pay. That costume was my fault, anyway, for bringing Raphi," she offered, smiling at Gabriel. The girl actually smiled back and returned to her onslaught of the dessert.

"How kind of you, Annabel," Raphiel chimed in happily.

"Not for you," Satanichia said flatly. She ignored her cousin's pout.

The rest of the meal was uneventful. It was mostly filled with random small talk and vague plans for a group movie night at an undetermined future date. Satanichia learned that Vignette's actual name is April and that her father moved to London from Japan for business and decided to move there permanently. Apparently, Vignette was a given name by the Satanic Temple. It wasn't something that was common, necessarily, but her parents had opted to do so in devotion to the religion. They were apparently very devout, which was ironic since the Satanic Temple was more secular than religious and focused more on not being a dick to other people.

It was about eight p.m. when the group were back in Raphiel's car, and the sadist surprisingly offered the other two a ride back to their dorm. Satanichia didn't know if the girl was up to something, or if she just had too little faith in her cousin.

It was with a full belly and excitement for the following Tuesday that Satanichia walked into her house with her cousin.

"…and I can't _wait_ for the trick-or-treating. It's going to be so much fun teasing Gabriel- _I mean_ getting all the delicious treats!"

"…what did you just say?" Satanichia asked as she slipped her jacket off and put it on the rack by the front door. Raphiel did the same, but with double the elegance. Even Satanichia had to admit that her cousin was indeed dignified in everything she did, despite her twisted nature.

"I'm just excited to spend time with my dearest friends," Raphiel gushed excitedly.

The pair walked into the kitchen and, unsurprisingly, found it empty. It was almost sad. Despite having moved in with Gerard and Lucille to escape her abusive father, Satanichia never had much opportunity to actually _see_ her aunt and uncle. They were, more often than not, away on business. Since she had moved in, she had seen them both maybe once, and when they _were_ there, they were rushing to pack and catch yet another flight for work.

It wasn't as if she didn't love her cousin, despite her sadistic tendencies. It was more that she was looking forward to the balance that would come from having Raphiel's level-headed parents around more often. Instead her home life was usually filled with nothing but her cousin. Lucille made sure to leave a credit card at the home for emergencies and groceries, so they were well taken care of, but it was still almost lonely.

She remembered fondly her childhood and the first video game she had ever played. It was _Super Mario Bros._ and Gerard had taught her the basics before setting her loose. She was young at the time, not even ten, and she had made it through seven worlds without any exploits. Before she knew it, her uncle was on the edge of his seat, coaching her and cheering her on. It had been a bonding experience, and she considered him a great friend.

She had made it to the final castle in the game and lost. It was a close round and she had been so embarrassed after the hype Gerard had thrown her way. He had just laughed and thrown her onto his shoulder.

 _"You still made it farther than me,"_ he had told her with a smile. She had spent the rest of the afternoon making cupcakes with Lucille and Raphiel to celebrate the almost-victory.

"What's wrong, Annabel?" Raphiel asked curiously.

"N-nothing. It's just a shame that Lucille and Gerard are gone. This is such a big house, you know?"

"Oh! You feel disturbed because the house is so empty! Is that it?"

Satanichia ignored the girl's face inches from her own. Her cousin didn't understand personal space, so she was used to it.

"I guess it is," she reasoned.

"We should invite Gab and Vignette over for a sleepover!" Raphiel cheerfully suggested.

A sleepover would be fantastic. Satanichia had never been to one before, so she didn't _really_ know what they were like, but she knew enough to know it would be fun.

"…with snacks and movies…"

She had a feeling that her cousin hadn't experienced such things either. She couldn't imagine anyone willingly inviting the discomforting sadist to their homes at all, especially overnight.

"…and we can all share a bed…"

It could be a good chance to bond with her new friends and maybe some social interaction other than her would be good for Raphiel, as well. The girl didn't talk like she had a lot of friends, other than Gabriel, and that was a loose friendship at best because of Gabriel's nature to be a shut-in.

…"and there will be makeovers…"

"What? What did you just say?"

"We can have makeovers?"

"No. The other thing."

"We can all share my bed, since it's the biggest in the house. It'll be perfect for the kissing and undressing," Raphiel said proudly with a hint of devilish glee in her eyes. She was already dialing the number on her cell phone.

"T-that's not going to happen! Where did you even _get_ that idea?" Satanichia asked incredulously.

"From your browsing history on your laptop," Raphiel said with no regret, turning her attention back to her phone.

Satanichia felt slightly lightheaded due to the blood rushing up her neck and to her face. Before she could say anything – not that she could think of anything to say – Raphiel was talking into the receiver.

"Gabriel! Annabel had the _best_ idea!"


	13. Status Effect: Feared!

**I'm sorry about the wait! This was my first day off in over a month, and, to be honest, I just couldn't get this chapter to a place that I was comfortable. It's okay, though, because I think I've done what I needed to with this one. I hope you guys enjoy!**

The universe – physically and cosmically - was a massive place. When it came down to it, it consisted of the Heavens, Hell, and the mortal realms. While the mortal realms alone consisted of a nearly limitless number of planets solar systems with and without life, Heaven and Hell each surpassed even such an expansive mortal universe in size.

After the uprising of demons which aimed to subvert destiny and bring finality to the endless destructive conflict between angels and demons, the denizens of all three realms were shocked. The goal for peace was an admirable one, and many angels would have been glad to negotiate peace with the demons if they could renounce their wickedness. Unfortunately, while the goal was admirable, the means by which the coalition obtained it was not quite so nice. Massive numbers of mortals were killed directly by the demons and their souls were recruited for the army. Only the most faithful of those managed to ascend to the Heavens and join the angels instead.

It seemed that such actions would lead to an intensified version of the already-massive war between Heaven and Hell, but, unbeknownst to all but a very saddened God and an infuriated Satan, there were rebels amongst the angels siding with these war-chasing demons.

This led to a coalition between angel and demon rebels whose only goal was to kill all of their kind who intended to carry out the destiny which was given to them. The demons couldn't stand the thought of being eternally slaughtered by the angels in the end times and the angels couldn't stand the idea of all humans being senselessly murdered as pawns in a massive game of chess.

Unexpectedly, this led to an additional partnership between the demons and angels still loyal to God and Satan. This faction's only goal was to stop the insurgents, whatever it takes.

With all that being said, there was a _lot_ for Gabriellia to do. There were enemies to kill, people to save, and lands to explore. She had demons to burn in her righteous fire, angels to punish for their evil transgressions against the will of God, injured allies with grievous wounds in need of healing, and beautiful landscapes to see with her own eyes for the first time. She had so much to do that it was almost unmanageable.

Her diadem rested on her golden hair, a glowing holy gem in the center of the equally golden headpiece. In place of her normal elegant white robes, she was wearing a more practical – yet equally elegant – navy blue tunic and skirt with silver threads and matching sandals. A staff blessed by the Lord Himself was grasped firmly in both of her hands and a book of commandments from God was attached to her back via holy chains that kept it anchored to her person firmly.

With an excited skip in her step, Gabriellia pushed her way out of the door to the mortal inn and felt the fresh Ohio air on her face. She inhaled the fresh air deeply and-

"Answer your phone, Gab," Vignette said frustratedly as she clicked and clacked on her laptop's keyboard. Gabriel's trick of ignoring the ringing device failed in that moment and she sighed. A glance at the phone surprised her. The caller was Raphiel, which was unexpected. Normally she was the type to just show up unexpectedly. She never called ahead.

Gabriel glanced between the phone on her bed and her character idling in the town square on her laptop.

"Can't I just ignore it?" she asked hopefully.

"No."

With a sigh, Gabriel slid her finger across the touch screen.

"What?" she asked as her character approached a lake and began fishing. It was something she could do without leaving her offline friends behind. Now that she thought about it, her friend Satania was normally online about this time. She was surprised to see that she had been offline most of the day.

"Gabriel! Annabel had the _best_ idea! She wants you to spend the night with her," Raphiel said with a giggle into the phone.

"What?" she asked. That was unexpected. Why would Annabel want that? She seemed awkward and shy around Gabriel, so it didn't make sense for her to _want_ to spend time together. Maybe she felt like she owed her for their late movie night the previous week?

"Annabel said-"

"I didn't say that!" Gabriel heard Annabel calling out to the phone from the distance and she could easily imagine Raphiel holding Annabel away from the phone as she said such ridiculous things.

"Don't mind her, Gab. She's just shy. Her browsing history is full of sleepover videos, so I think-"

 _Click_.

Gabriel stared at her phone for a moment, surprised at the sudden silence on the line.

What was it that Raphiel was saying about a browsing history? It was probably just some kind of prank by the older of the two cousins, but Gabriel couldn't deny the filthy thoughts entering her head at the words "Annabel, browsing history, and sleepover," being uttered in the same sentence. She blushed and felt a little embarrassed, but she ignored the feelings because it didn't fit the image she wanted to project.

She wasn't surprised to feel her phone vibrate in her hand once again with the caller ID identifying Annabel as the caller this time.

"H-hello?" she asked, feeling Vignette's eyes on her even as her friend kept typing.

"S-sorry, Gabriel," she heard Annabel apologizing on the phone. There was something about her voice, but Gabriel couldn't put her finger on it.

"I-it's fine. What's going on?" she asked.

"Er, well, I was wondering if you would – _you and Vignette! –_ would like to spend the night at Raphiel's place tonight," the girl said with an overabundance of shyness. Gabriel found it kind of endearing. She also felt like she was torn apart. On the one hand, she didn't mind the idea of a sleepover with Raphiel and Annabel. On the other hand, there was farming and grinding to be done, and, when Vignette finished their homework, they just had to wait on Satanichia to come online. She didn't know what to do and she truly felt divided.

"Uh, Gabriel…? Are you still there…?" Annabel asked shyly.

"Yep. Uh, one sec."

"What is it?" Vignette asked curiously as she skimmed through her copy of the _Holy Bible._

"Want to go to a sleepover?" she asked casually.

"A sleepover?"

"Yep. You in?"

"Well, we have homework. We could all work on it together…"

"Ew. I thought you were doing mine for me," Gabriel said with a frown.

"Why would you possibly think that?"

Gabriel smiled internally. She knew that, if nothing else, Vignette would help her with their homework. The only homework she was really worried about was the math. Having been raised in a Christian household, she knew the doctrine that was being taught better than the back of her hand. She could ace the Theology course and Christian Literature course with her eyes closed.

"No reason."

"Well, we'd best pack if we're going to go. It's getting late."

Gabriel nodded and picked her phone up.

"Hey, we're in. Can Raphiel come and get us? I have no idea where she lives."

"Sure thing. We should be there in fifteen minutes, I think."

"Gotcha."

Gabriel typed a quick message to Satanichia to let her know she'd be online the following day and logged out. As much as she hated to spend the rest of the day offline, she knew she would feel bad if she turned down Annabel's offer. She had the feeling that the other girl was a disaster socially. Maybe it was because of the awkwardness she felt around her, or maybe it was because of their awkward first day as classmates. Heck, it could have even been the bruises on the girl's body that had tipped Gabriel off, but she couldn't imagine the girl had many friends. Even if she did, her home life was previously a wreck.

Sure, Gabriel wasn't like her sister. She didn't have the urge to become a modern saint, and she was something of a failure as a preacher's daughter at times, but that didn't mean that she didn't genuinely care about people. Well, some people. Some of the time. She didn't know what it was, but Annabel had become one of the people on that very exclusive list. Maybe it was sympathy for the abuse. Maybe it was just her smile from that day at Mr. Umezu's coffee shop. Maybe it was even pity for the girl who was cursed to live with Raphiel. Truthfully, Gabriel didn't _care_ that she didn't understand it. All she knew was that she felt a strong urge to care about Annabel like she did for Vignette and even Raphiel.

"Do you have spare clothes?" she asked Vignette. It was times like these that she was thankful for her friend's foresight in leaving spare clothes in her dorm room. Vignette's habit to frequently stay overnight on a minute's notice finally proved useful. The only problem was that Gabriel had her own bad habit related to laundry. Namely, she rarely laundered her clothes. She changed out of her school uniforms each day after class so they could be reused, and she had enough underwear and socks that she didn't _need_ to wash them often. If anything, she cleaned her laundry every two weeks at best.

"No, I'll need to borrow some of yours."

While they weren't the same size, Gabriel did have some oversized t-shirts that would fit Vignette, and her shorts would fit the girl well enough. Both had similar waist sizes.

"Okay," she nodded, throwing a few shirts and a couple pairs of sweatpants from her closet to Vignette. They were nicer articles of clothing, because she knew Vignette cared more about her appearance that she did. She threw a pair of socks as well. Vignette caught all the clothes masterfully and neatly folded them, placing them in her backpack. Gabriel followed suit in her own backpack, minus the "folding" part. She ignored the look Vignette gave her.

They stepped outside to wait on Raphiel to show up and sat on a bench in front of the dorm. Gabriel played on her phone while Vignette intently read the scripture assigned to them by Ms. Weiss for the break. She would tease the girl and attribute the extra effort she was applying to her old crush on the teacher, but she knew that Vignette just genuinely cared about her grades to the extent that she would do her homework on Friday night before a five-day weekend.

Minutes later, a familiar sedan slowed to a stop in the middle of the street in front of them. Ignoring both the fact that it wasn't a parking spot and the honks of the horns of about four cars behind her, the driver opened her window and waved at the pair from the drivers' window.

The girls got into the backseat of the sedan and stared awkwardly in front of them.

"Good evening! This is going to be so much fun!" Raphiel greeted them excitedly. She accelerated and started the short drive home.

Neither girl knew what to say, and an awkward silence filled the car. Vignette coughed into her hand, "Uhm, what's with…?"

Raphiel tilted her head and turned around to look at them. It's important to note that she _didn't_ look at them in the mirror. She also did _not_ give them a quick glance. Despite the fact that she was driving along a busy street at several kilometers per hour, she was openly staring at them in the back seat.

"What is it?" she asked.

"T-turn around!" Gabriel shouted. A shout of agreement from her left and muffled shouts in front of her agreed with her command.

"Oh! Right! Sorry, I forgot. Silly me," Raphiel shook her head and turned back around to watch the road.

Breathing heavily, Gabriel held Vignette's hand tightly as they caught their breath. After taking a moment to calm down, Vignette asked the question they were both thinking.

"W-why is Annabel tied up?" she asked before Gabriel had the chance.

Yes, strangely enough, Annabel was literally _tied_ to the passenger seat. Her arms were tightly bound to her sides and the knot was skillfully done in a way that she wouldn't be able to easily escape without something sharp. Her mouth was duct-taped shut and it was clear that she had been crying. Gabriel pitied her. Raphiel really was sadistic.

"Oh! You noticed that!" Raphiel acknowledged with a wide smile. She said nothing else.

"…did you tie her up?" Vignette followed up.

"Oh, April. You're so intuitive!" Raphiel said with a polite laugh.

Gabriel ignored the banter of the two and reached up to pull the tape from Annabel's mouth. A quick jerk pulled the tape right off and she gasped in pain while rubbing her lips gently. Gabriel started working on the knot behind the seat.

"T-thanks," she said softly.

"No problem," Gabriel said with a nod before returning to her phone. Vignette calmly opened her Bible and read the assigned chapters again, but she kept an eye on Annabel. It was clear that she was worried about the girl, too, and Gabriel smiled at that.

"The heroine rescues the damsel in distress!" Raphiel narrated without the smallest trace of sarcasm, "I'll let you two have the bed tonight!"

"Who are you calling a heroine, idiot?" Gabriel mumbled under her breath. She didn't like being called a heroine. It was embarrassing. She _did_ enjoy the blush on Annabel's face, though.

"So why was Annabel tied up?" Vignette asked Raphiel, hoping the third try would yield and answer.

"Good question!" Raphiel praised her. Obviously, no explanation was forthcoming.

"She wanted to embarrass me," Annabel said with a glare to her cousin.

"It's rude to interrupt people, Annabel," Raphiel said with disappointment.

"I didn't-," Annabel began, before being interrupted, ironically, by Raphiel.

"You did earlier. When I was trying to speak with Gabriel on the phone," she said with a pout.

"What are we doing tonight, anyway?" Gabriel interrupted before Raphiel had any new ideas.

"I didn't think that far ahead," Annabel muttered, "maybe some movies?"

Gabriel had pleasant flashbacks to their _Star Wars_ night the previous week. A movie night could be fun.

"That sounds fun," Vignette agreed, "and maybe we can work on our debate topics for class?"

"Gross. Who does homework at a sleepover?" Gabriel scoffed. It was halfhearted, however, since she had never been to an actual sleepover other than inviting Vignette over to stay on random nights.

"I'm just lucky that we have three-person teams this time," Vignette commented gratefully, "Annabel seems responsible compared to you."

Gabriel almost laughed at the deer-in-the-headlights look on Annabel's face.

"I. uh, I think you give me too much credit," Annabel argued, "I've never even picked up a religious textbook until this week."

"She's so modest," Raphiel gushed, "She was such a good student at her old school. She had perfect marks."

The silvery-haired girl's driving had improved quite a bit. Gabriel was relieved to see the speedometer was steady and Raphiel's eyes were fully on the road.

She had to admit, however, that she was surprised at the attachment Raphiel showed toward Annabel. Her pranks were definitely overly cruel, and she had a strong inclination to be extremely inappropriate around her classmates, but she was clearly genuine in her affection for her cousin. It was almost like she just didn't know how to show her feelings.

"My grades were far from perfect-"

Annabel's embarrassment was cute, Gabriel decided.

"Amélie is so smart. Mama and Papa always hired the best tutors, but it was never the same as when she visited," Raphiel said longingly.

"Who's Amélie?" Vignette asked.

"That's my mom," Annabel said with a sad smile.

"She misses her," Raphiel explained.

"Why doesn't she just come here and live with you?" Vignette asked. Gabriel had a feeling that she knew, but it was too personal for her to say anything, so she just pretended to ignore them as she played a boring gacha game on her phone.

"She has… responsibilities," Annabel said vaguely. Vignette didn't push it, and, for once, Raphiel didn't antagonize her cousin. It was obvious, even to the unknowing Vignette, that it was some deep family drama.

At about that moment, Raphiel pulled into the large driveway with a loud squeal of the tires. With a practiced hand, she steered the sedan into its spot without even touching any of the other cars, of which there were several. Gabriel had known that Raphiel came from a financially privileged family, but to see it so boldly on display before her was a whole new experience. She had never been to the girl's house before, despite being friends (to an extent) with her since they were children. It was amazing to just look at such a house. It wasn't _quite_ a mansion, but it was damn close.

The rest of the houses on the street were average two-story suburban houses, but Raphiel's home easily took up the space, length-and-widthwise, of at least four of them. It towered at an imposing three stories. A large, clean concrete driveway was filled about halfway with no less than six vehicles.

The roof had an elegant, older-styled dark trim. The house was made of brick, but it looked pristine as if it was only recently built, despite the almost-antique style. There was a wide front door and a stone path branching from the driveway, circling to the left around the house toward the back lawn. The grass was neatly trimmed, and there wasn't a spec of dirt or a single sign of wear-and-tear along the outside of the house.

"Come on!" Raphiel cheered excitedly, jumping out of the car and closing the door with a loud slam. The other three exited the vehicle and sheepishly followed the overexcited girl into the house. Gabriel was equally impressed by the inside of the house. There wasn't any dust on any of the furniture. Elegant decorations covered the walls and end tables, and they were just now in the main entranceway. An intricate set of curving stairs led to the second story and an archway below the stairway led to a large sitting room that branched further into a kitchen, bathroom, and outdoor patio. Another door was right in front of the base of the stairs. It was closed, however, so Gabriel could only guess to where it led.

"Your house is huge, Raphiel," Gabriel commented idly, kicking her shoes off by the door. She started walking up the stairs without waiting for confirmation to do so. She could guess easily enough that the bedroom in which they'd all be staying would be upstairs.

"Yes, it is. To be honest, I find it to be too big," Raphiel said, her smile remaining on her face, as she followed Gabriel up the stairs, "Let me show you around!"

Vignette and Annabel followed behind them as they made their way up the long staircase. There was another floor above the second, but Raphiel led them along the hallway they reached on the second floor. She pointed to a door on the left and made a grandiose gesture.

"This room is a restroom," she said with a smile and hurried across the hall to another door, this one with an elegantly trimmed frame. She opened the door and waved her hand toward the inside, "…and this room is _my_ room! It has all of my tools and the biggest bed on this floor!"

Gabriel ignored Raphiel's mention of the "tools." Raphiel closed her door and led them to the next room on the floor. This room didn't have a door. Instead, it was just an ornate frame. It led into a well-lit reading room with a computer and several massive bookcases. The sunset in the distance painted the room in a beautiful pinkish-orange hue. The "tour guide" quickly identified the room as a study, and approached a plain wooden door in the hallway.

"Lastly," she announced with a flourish, "this room belongs to Annabel!"

"Wait! What are you-," Annabel began, before Raphiel swung the door open and gestured for the group to go inside. Gabriel followed inside with no hesitation. Vignette awkwardly made her way in and Annabel grabbed Raphiel by the arm to try and drag her out. Unfortunately, the shorter girl didn't seem all that strong, so Raphiel continued uninterrupted.

"This is her closet," she said, sliding the door to show Annabel's meager wardrobe. Pointing as she spoke, she continued, "This is her bed with her freshly-laundered blankets. This is her laptop – where she spends most of her free time. This is her dresser – the third drawer from the top is her underwear drawer! – and over here is the shelf on which she keeps her movies and books!"

During the demonstration, Raphiel ignored Annabel's desperate attempt to tug her away from the room. Gabriel didn't even try to justify the girl's familiarity with Annabel's room. She was used to the strangeness at this point.

"Why would you possibly give them such a detailed tour of _my_ room," Annabel complained as she struggled harder and harder to remove her cousin from her room.

"Because this is where we'll be sleeping tonight, silly," Raphiel explained as if it was obvious.

Gabriel's eyes widened at that. Annabel's bed was admittedly large, but there was no way four of them could fit onto that single mattress.

Raphiel, apparently reading Gabriel's mind, reassured them, "I'll bring an inflatable mattress!"

She left the room and the awkward group of three behind in a quick dash.

"…your room is very nice, Annabel," Vignette said.

"T-thanks."

The awkwardness was almost painful for Gabriel. She distracted herself with her phone and sat on Annabel's bed, ignoring Raphiel's arrival with the inflatable mattress and the electric pump. She allowed herself to be lost in the world of gacha gaming as the other three struggled with the equipment. Surprisingly, Vignette didn't even ask her to help with the mattress. She was probably smart enough to recognize a lost cause when she saw it.

About seven minutes later, the mattress was inflated and taking up the space in the floor beside Annabel's bed. Despite the room being far bigger than Gabriel's dorm room, she noticed the mattress took up most of the floor space. It was just an overly-bulky piece of furniture.

"How quaint!" Raphiel cheered, "I should go and find some blankets!"

"I'll help," Vignette volunteered and followed along.

"Oh! Why, thank you!"

The pair left and Gabriel chanced a glance over at Annabel. She was blushing furiously and fiddling with her thumbs. Gabriel locked her phone and stuffed it into her pocket.

"You don't need to be shy," she said bluntly, "I know how Raphiel is."

"O-of course I'm not shy. I have no reason to be shy," Annabel said with false bravado. Gabriel smirked inwardly.

"Oh, really? You're not even a little shy or nervous?"

"Of course not!"

Gabriel didn't know why the girl that was so clearly nervous around her was throwing on such an act. After the locker room fiasco and their little friend date the previous week, she had assumed that any pretenses or fake personality traits would be gone. Something had clearly triggered it, but it wasn't too big of a deal.

That didn't mean Gabriel wouldn't mess with her.

"Well, that's good, because I'm very nervous," she said with her best acting. If she wasn't too lazy to memorize lines, she had to admit she would be a decent actress, but her passions lay elsewhere. She watched Annabel for the reaction she was fishing for. The tilt of the head told her she had what she needed.

"Why is that?" Annabel asked, her voice genuinely surprised.

"Think about it," Gabriel said in overexaggerated embarrassment, "Vignette usually goes to sleep pretty early, so she and Raphiel will probably share the mattress. That means we'll both be in your bed."

The blush on her face wasn't entirely fake, but, truthfully, she didn't know if that was actually what was going to happen. She was just messing with Annabel. Realistically, she would be the one to share the inflatable mattress with Vignette while Raphiel and Annabel shared the bed. She didn't tell the girl that, however.

"W-what? I think that you're mistaken. Raphiel will probably volunteer to sleep with me," Annabel argued, and Gabriel held back the laughter that threatened to burst free. It was silly, how relieved Annabel seemed with her justification.

"Oh. Good luck," she quipped slyly. She wouldn't want to share a bed with Raphiel for the night. She considered herself lucky to have Vignette in that regard. The girl slept soundly and considerately never bothered her in her sleep if she moved around at night. Annabel was definitely getting the short end of the stick here.

"We're back!" Raphiel shouted as the door loudly burst open. Gabriel and Annabel both jumped at the surprising noise. Gabriel's host walked happily into the room with Vignette following behind her with an armful of blankets and pillows. She placed them gently on the mattress and began folding them neatly.

"'sup?" Gabriel greeted them, "So, what do you guys want to do?"

"Let's watch a movie, Gab!" Raphiel suggested as she tackled Gabriel into a tight hug. Gabriel tried to push the girl off, to no avail.

"Geez, fine. Just get off," she complained.

"What should we watch?" Annabel asked, already sorting through her DVD collection on the shelf near her bed.

"Maybe a romantic comedy or a drama?" Vignette offered passively.

"That fits you perfectly, Vignette," Raphiel commented happily.

"Uh, I've got a few here. How do you feel about Adam Sandler?"

"No!" Gabriel interrupted, and the three girls turned to look at her. She raised a hand in a confident fist, "We have to watch horror movies until three a.m.!"

"Oh my! How exciting!" Raphiel gushed, "We'll need snacks and drinks for that!"

Gabriel ignored Vignette's paling face and rushed to sort through Annabel's collection.

 **-.-**

Three in the morning came faster than Satanichia expected. They had watched several horror movies – to Vignette's dismay. She was currently the only one left awake, but it wasn't because of the movie that was still playing. She had a much different problem. As it turned out, she was completely mistaken.

Vignette had apparently not handled the horror movie very well, and, in her cowering within her blanket, Raphiel had been more than glad to hold the terrified girl in a snuggle that would qualify her to become an officer in their guild in the MMO. The poor girl was unable to fall asleep until pure exhaustion hit her like a ton of bricks around two in the morning. By the time she was out of it, Raphiel was sleeping on her shoulder and, as a result, Satanichia and Gabriel were now sharing the bed.

Maybe it was her own questions about her sexuality. Maybe it was because of the awkward encounter in the gym locker room. Maybe it was just as simple as her being in a bed within inches of an adorable girl her age, but there was something keeping her awake. She felt a strange sensation. It was like the warmth of a blush, but it was everywhere. Her arms, her legs, even her brain felt like it was boiling inside her head.

She looked over absentmindedly, careful not to move around too much and wake up the sleeping blonde. The girl was lying on her belly, with her arms and legs sprawled across the bed. It was pure chance that they weren't touching, and Satanichia was quite thankful for that. She didn't know how she would handle that. There was a steady rise and fall of Gabriel's back, and her breathing was soft. Because of their proximity, she could actually feel her friend's breath, however slightly.

She closed her eyes and tried to tune it out, hoping to catch at least _some sleep_. When she finally realized that it was hopeless, she decided to at least stay entertained while she was fighting a lost cause. She reached over to the desk beside her bed and grabbed her laptop. With a careful glance around her, she booted it up. She typed in her login credentials and clicked "Log In!"

With a yawn, she lost herself in another world, forgetting that she was at a sleepover, forgetting all about the movie that was still playing, and even forgetting about the girl in her bed. Her focus was on the herbs in front of her and the hotkeys on her action bar. It was less than half an hour until she was dead to the world. Had she been more careful, she might have managed to log out first.


End file.
